


Red right hand...

by ThreeMagpies



Category: Revolution TV
Genre: Gen, MILD Consensual BDSM, Slow Burn Charlie Matheson/Bass Monroe, Smut, charloe - Freeform, post S2 (no comics) Blackout AU, sci fi/supernatural theme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2018-09-26 06:37:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9871847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThreeMagpies/pseuds/ThreeMagpies
Summary: A Revolution fic:  Bass Monroe/Charlie Matheson. Charloe. Blackout AU. Post S2 (no comic). Set in the same universe as another story of mine, ‘Halloween dreams’. Miles, Rachel, Aaron and Priscilla have gone to Bradbury to investigate the nano threat there, leaving Charlie with Bass. Miles didn't know if they would be coming back and asked Bass to keep an eye on her and keep her safe... Now Charlie and Bass are together and working for President Blanchard, hunting patriot remnants but with a special mission to track down the rest of the nanotech pendants created by Ben and Rachel Matheson and the ones made by Randall Flynn’s own team of scientists and use them to fight the nano. There's been a rumor out of the Plains Nation of a travelling healer, a shaman who could do things no one could explain, so, somewhere in the Plains nation…





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s note:  
> Hi there, and thank you so much for reading :) I hope you enjoy!! It's a kind of follow on from 'Halloween dreams' and started turning into a 'what if this happened instead' kind of story... anyway, I'll see where it goes lol!! the title is from a lyric by Nick Cave. Cheers, Magpie

‘So tell me again why we have to wear this stuff?’ Charlie looked at herself in the crazed, full length mirror on the wall of their tiny but surprisingly clean hotel room. Her image was fractured but clear enough that she could see herself even in the dim, late afternoon light coming in through the window. ‘I look like something from a really nasty war clan.’ 

She twitched the tattered and patched leather corset that only just held her breasts in, jiggling to get a little more coverage, the movement making her skin-tight and torn jeans tweak the hair on her pussy and tease her clit. Her lips curved, going commando was part of the disguise – women from nasty war clans rarely had access to underwear, but it had its compensations… A shiver zapped its way to her belly button, and she sucked in a breath, twisting so she could see her ass and the temporary tattoo that curled in a tribal dance above the band of her jeans, twining up along her spine, over her shoulders and down her arms. Her hair hung in long, crow dark waves to her waist, so different to her usual rich blond and her own chain belt hung on her hips framing a heart shaped rear that she had to admit wasn’t half bad.

Bass chuckled from where he was sat on the bed doing up the buckles on his boots, ‘you know why, we’re getting too well known even here in the boondocks. This way no one’ll shoot us on sight. And your hair looks great dark.’ His eyes swept over her, hot and vibrant blue, and a dark red eyebrow lifted, ‘the rest is pretty ok too.’

Her eyes glinted at him as she swung her hips in a slow shimmy and pushed a long, curling, inky strand back behind one ear. ‘Just ok?‘ Her skin was pale and luminous against the black and her eyes glowed. She glanced back at the wild, exotic stranger in the mirror as the dark strands swung around her shoulders. The hair had been a shock at first but she kind of liked it now. ‘I look like Duncan.’ 

He moved behind her, a tall, broad shape in the mirror. His hair was dyed deep henna red with a thick, shaved line curving above his left ear and a black henna tattoo of swords, warrior stripes and vines trailing from his temple, over the ear to the base of his neck. His moustache and beard were oiled and dark and earrings, piercings, neck-chains and cuffs caught the light as he moved. His tall, hard muscled body was framed in a frayed black biker vest over inked arms and his bare, tattooed smoothly muscled chest was crossed with bandoliers and sheaths for his guns. Swords hung from a heavy belt on either hip and framed the long, heavy bulge of his cock above strong legs in worn, patched black leather. He was loaded for bear and looked formidable, dangerous…

Charlie smiled, her eyes meeting his in the glass, ‘you look pretty ok too’.

His hands slid around her waist, thumbs trailing along the wide strip of skin left exposed between her pants and top, fingertips skating forwards over the taut belly and twin bumps of hip bones. ‘Duncan was a good looking woman…’ He bent and nibbled the soft skin behind her ear, ‘but you’re gorgeous, Charlie, whatever color your hair is.’

She leaned back against him, tipping her head to give him more access. His hands and the feel of his body on hers sent shivers of sensation over her skin, pebbling her nipples and making the leather between her legs slippery and hot. She shivered. The temptation to just throw him onto the bed and fuck him and to hell with the mission was almost irresistible. ‘How long before we go?’

He laughed low in his throat, his cock a hard ridge against her hips, teeth biting down gently on the slope of her throat and tongue leaving a cool trail behind his lips. His hands tightened, ‘long enough if we hurry..’

There was a loud knock on the door. ‘Hey guys?’ 

Bass hissed out a breath, ‘shit.’ He turned to the door, hands hard on her waist, ‘coming, Sanchez.’

Charlie smirked up at him, rubbing her ass against his thigh, ‘haven’t yet.’

He grinned back, lips close to her ear, voice full of promises. ‘you will.’ One hand slid down between her legs to grip her pussy, the other held her hard against him, lifting her just enough for his leather covered cock to fill the valley between her ass cheeks. ‘Don’t forget, Blanchard’s promised us two days furlough as soon as we get this job done.’

‘He said that the last time, and we nearly got sucked on by vampires.’ She squeezed her thighs together over his hand, loving the feel of his cock tight against her ass, of his big fingers between her legs. She wriggled a little, sucking in a breath as he slid his fingers down either side of her clit and squeezed…

His eyes laughed down at her, little blue flames dancing in them, ‘you gotta admit that was a fun gig.’ He bent down and kissed her, lips warm and firm on hers, his scruff stiffer than usual with the oil, lightly scratching her cheek and leaving goosebumps behind.

‘It had its moments.’ She kissed him back, eyes hazy with arousal. ‘So do you think this Shaman guy really is a witch like they say?’

He pulled back a little, eyes dancing, ‘I think we should wait and see.’ His hand slid out from between her legs, stroking her clit on the way, fingers sliding up and lingering on the soft skin of her waist. ‘The Plains are full of people who think they’re witches or shamans of one kind or another. But if this one has a pendant, it’d look like he really had magic powers, to some people anyway?’

There was another knock at the door, louder this time, ‘Guys?’

‘I guess we’ll find out soon enough,’ Charlie took another look in the mirror, then buckled on her sword and gun belts and grabbed her crap. She smirked back at him, ’ready?’

He reached down and adjusted his pants, grinning as the bulge of his dick refused to settle down. ‘give me a minute.’

She came close and cupped him with a hand, fingers wrapping around the thick, hard leather covered column of his cock, feeling him stiffen even more under her fingers…

He sucked in a groaning breath, his eyes burning blue, hungry sparks down at her. ‘Not helping, Charlie.’

She laughed then reached up and kissed him, her lips lingering on his, ‘let’s get this job done fast, ok?’ She let go of his cock and ground her hips against his crotch, one of her legs snaking up around his thigh, ‘then we can finish this...’

He pulled her towards him, hard, her breasts mashing against his chest, one hand spreading over her ass, hard and urgent, the other hooking her knee and pulling her closer, his breath hot and whisky sweet on her face, ‘you’re reading my mail...’

…………………………….

In their cover of a war clan remnant, Sergeant Sanchez and the dozen other Texas Rangers who made up their troop were dressed in ragged, patched leathers and homespun cloth, their weapons made to look rough, weather beaten and ready-made. The horses were disguised too – the troops riding on rough pelt saddle pads with rope and rawhide tack but like the seasoned fighters they were, the men and several women were relaxed, jokes and insults flying.

Sanchez rode over to where Bass and Charlie were almost ready to mount up. He passed a slim leather bag down to Charlie, his velvet brown eyes dancing, ‘got a package for you’ He grinned, teeth very white against his dark skin, ‘I’d have given it to you earlier but it sounded like you two were busy.’ He looked her up and down, ‘you look great by the way.’

Charlie’s lips twitched, ’a couple more minutes would have made me look even better…’ She glanced up at the young Latino, which wasn’t hard. Even in his disguise Sanchez was ridiculously good looking as well as smart and very capable. His partner, a tall, muscular Viking type was the troop medic and the pair were highly respected – and inseparable. She took the package, ‘but thanks anyway, Sanchez.’

Bass looked over, yanking the strap holding his saddle bags on, cursing when he realized the horse had bloated its belly. He yanked again, pulling the strap tight. ‘Is the rider still here?’ The horse snorted, shaking its head as the buckle snapped into place.

‘Nah, she was headed straight to Austin, wanted to give Blanchard the news.’

‘News? What news?’ 

Sanchez opened his mouth but Charlie spoke first.

‘This one’s from Aaron, and there’s another from Blanchard.’ She had Aaron’s letter open, frowning as she read. Then a relieved smile curved her lips, ‘Miles and my mom are ok,’ She looked up at Bass, he hadn’t said much but she knew how worried he was about his son, even after the guy tried to kill him, ‘and Connor too, they found him on the road, heading back to Texas, he said Neville had gone to Bradbury but he'd been acting crazy, all the people there were acting crazy. He said to tell you he’s sorry…’ She huffed, 'Aaron said to tell you that Miles is keeping a very close eye on him and doesn't let him take watch yet.' 

Bass came over, the relief and deep emotions plain in his eyes. He nodded, 'Miles is right to be careful after the stunt Connor pulled, but I'm glad the kid's ok. So what’s the plan?’

She passed him Blanchard’s letter, then read further from hers, ‘my mom wants to go into town, confront the Nano,’ she looked up at him, worried, ‘but Aaron said Blanchard told them to wait and gather as much intel as they can, that he has an idea about using the pendants against the Nano, to short circuit it or something.’ Her lips tightened, ‘Aaron wants to know how many we’ve found.’ 

‘Blanchard’s sending us more men, he says he has some intel about another one in Denver,’ Bass had broken the seal and was scanning the rest of the page, ‘and the Magician’s agreed to take her pendant to Bradbury. She said we'd need at least three to make the plan work and he wants us to get this one as soon as we can, if there is one of course.’ 

Sanchez nodded, his face grim, ‘I’ll get everyone ready, we’ll leave in five.’

............................


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:   
> Hi there, and thank you so much for reading and for some lovely comments. This chapter could be subtitled ‘ways to make surveillance fun, Charloe style’ lol! Because it’s pretty well all smut (including a little totally consensual mild bdsm), so be warned). You can skip it if you want, we’ll be back to the rest of the story next chapter ;) Magpie

‘It looks just like New Vegas.’ From their position under the cover of some trees on a ridge above the settlement, Charlie took another look at the crowded, brightly torch lit tent town spread out below them then passed Bass the binoculars, careful not to let the full moon or the torchlight catch the lenses.

He took them and shuffled forwards a little over the grass to get a better view, a hip brushing hers on the way. He settled and let his free hand trail up along her thigh and over the curves of her ass, long fingers lingering on smooth, warm leather while he put the glasses to his eyes with the other.

She wriggled closer after a quick check around, just in case. Over the last couple of days, Sanchez had seemed to take a certain amount of pleasure in interrupting her and Bass whenever they tried to get away for a bit of alone time, in fact the guy turned up as if by magic. But it appeared that they were actually on their own. Finally. And the rest of the troop were back at their camp a half hour ride away waiting for orders and intel. She smiled. 

Bass slid his hand up under Charlie’s leather bustier, fingers spreading out over the smooth skin of her back. ‘Yeah, except in New Vegas they tell fortunes with a pack of cards or a crystal ball. This guy looks like a pro.’

‘He heals people, right?’ She lifted up a little to give him room to slide down and over her breast, her breath catching as his thumb grazed her nipple. 

Bass watched the long line of people moving slowly under the torches into a big tent, some with missing limbs, others with burns that he guessed had to be from being close to the bombs but many with problems he couldn’t make out at this distance and in this light. ‘Yeah, as well as some other stuff apparently. Staypuft’s friend Peter had a similar kind of thing going in Lubbock remember? The nano helped him heal people in return for being worshipped. A Jesus saves kinda thing.’ He swung the glasses to the back of the tent, where a laughing, excited crowd of people were making their way out. ‘Guy’s good too, the blond at the front only had one arm when she went in.’ He passed the glasses back to Charlie, ‘check it out.’ He leaned over, pressing hot, biting kisses on the strip of skin above her pants while his fingers kept playing with her breast.

She sucked in a breath, almost dropping the glasses, ‘Bass… Trying to concentrate here.’ 

He laughed low in his throat, ‘Just making the most of being alone with you for the first time in two fucking days.’ 

She put the glasses down and slid round into his arms, hair falling back against the grass like dark snakes, her eyes hot and face flushed. ‘Yeah, I’m thinking Sanchez put us on different watch details and kept turning up at changeover just to yank our chain.’ She licked her lips, ‘do you think Miles said anything? It started right after those letters arrived.’

Bass chuckled, his hands busy undoing the laces, buckles and straps holding her top together at the front, piling the ones that looped round her waist on the ground next to him, ‘maybe, but my money’s on Blanchard. He’d just found out we were together and it’d be just like his idea of revenge.’

Charlie leaned back, finding his eyes in the shadows, the blue of them like deep pools catching the moon. ‘For what? I didn’t do anything to him.’

He cleared his throat, ‘you didn’t, I did.’ 

‘What’d you do? And why would he stop us having a good time?’ She sucked her belly in as he pulled one of the straps out from around her waist.

‘I whipped his ass once,’ The top fell open and he bent and took a nipple between his lips, tongue laving the sensitive flesh, teeth closing, biting gently and stretching the pliable nub, his lips sealing and sucking...

She gasped, sucking in some air, ‘you fought Blanchard? When?’

Bass licked and nibbled his way over to the other nipple, ‘I didn’t fight him, I whipped his ass.’  
He looked up at her, his eyes wicked blue even in the low light, catching little flames from the torches down below them. ‘With a riding crop.’ Then he bent to her nipples again.

She moaned as his teeth gripped and he sucked hard, her voice hoarse. ‘Really?’ Then her eyes opened wide, glinting, lips curving into a wide grin. ‘Bare ass?’

The soft flesh of her breast rippled under his lips as he chuckled, glancing up at her with laughing eyes. ‘No, thank God. He had these big, flapping white shorts on…’ He started working on the buttons of her pants, the long, clever fingers deft and impatient, ‘he was tied up to the posts of a big bed and had three girls in the room with him, one of the girls was whipping him and he was having a really good old time. Me and Miles needed to talk to him so we broke into his house. Totally spoiled his fun.’ 

The first button popped and Charlie sucked in her belly to give him more room, ‘No wonder he’s mad.’ She stroked a hand up his chest, tracing the dark, curling outline of one of the tattoos. So, you took over whipping him to get his attention?’

‘Yeah. Made him cry walnut too.’ Another button went.

‘Walnut?’ Charlie’s breath was coming in gasps, her belly tightening as his fingers got closer to the damp curls between her legs while his lips were busy on her breasts.

He lifted his head, ‘It was his safe word, it meant he’d had enough.’ The last button popped.

‘So, you hit him harder than she did? Harder than he wanted?’

He chuckled again, although it was a breathless sound, ‘didn’t really mean to, it was just all that ass hanging there, begging for it. I couldn’t help it.’ His hand cupped her pussy, a finger slipping and sliding between her swollen, greedy lips. His words tailed off into a hoarse whisper, ‘fuck, you’re wet.’

Charlie flipped over in a smooth, lithe movement onto her hands and knees, her pants falling in a heap on the ground around her and leaving her bare except for dark strands of her hair and her chain belt and knives hanging low on her hips. She was pale and gleaming in the moonlight, edged with the red of the torches from the town. Her breasts bouncing a little and just visible beneath the sides of the loose top, her ass cheeks full and round and smooth, pussy like a glistening, beautiful fruit between them with the little pucker of her anus a rosy whirl above it. She glanced back at him, back arched down, bottom up, her face taut with excitement, curiosity and desire. ‘What does my ass make you want to do?’

Bass was silent for a long moment on his knees behind her, his eyes avid and hot, breath harsh and hard cock visibly straining the front of his pants. Then he reached out a hand and ran his fingers over the soft, springy globes and down the cleft between her legs, lightly circling her anus then going lower, almost, almost touching the glistening lips and the ruffled, pink inner lips just peeping out between, going tantalizingly close, so close that the little, curling hairs on her pussy rose searching for his touch. ‘All kinds of bad, bad things, Charlie…’

Her breath caught, voice almost not there, ‘I want to know what it feels like, why he wanted it.’

He sucked back a groan, both hands roving over those delicious cheeks as images of some of those bad, bad things flickered and sizzled through his mind like flames. ‘Fuck…’ He leaned forward and bit hard on the fleshiest part of her left cheek, letting her feel it but careful not to go too hard, not to break the skin.

She gasped, her hands clutching the grass underneath her as a surge of electric sensations flew from his mouth to her clit, rocketing round her whole body. ‘Oh. Shit… Do it again.’

He let go, licked the bite mark and blew softly, watching as gooseflesh rose on her skin. Then he ran his fingernails down the smooth cheeks and thighs and back up again, watching as the long, toned muscles of her legs tightened, watched the white streaks turn dark on the pale skin... He gripped her knees and spread her legs out wider, her pussy lips opening like a flower.

She made a small, desperate, mewling sound.

Then he dove down again, biting the other cheek this time, hard enough to leave dark, rosy teeth marks while his fingers spread her ass cheeks wide, the dark, enticing entrances to her body opening up for him and the spicy, female scent of her filling his senses like a siren call.

This time she sucked in a long breath, gasping it out again, hair falling forwards over her shoulders as her arms collapsed, her elbows bending and her ass tipping even higher towards him. ‘Again?’ Her voice was desperate, ‘then fuck me, please…’

Bass kept one hand on her, but reached down with the other and let his cock out because it was getting way, way too fucking tight in there. ‘Gonna leave bruises if I keep going with that, Charlie, and it might be hard to sit on a saddle for a couple of days.’

She turned a flushed face round to him, eyes glazed and lips swollen and red with arousal and from her teeth chewing down on them, ‘don’t care, no one’ll know except you.’ She grinned, a feral smile, ‘and it’ll give me something to think about besides strangling Sanchez while I’m out on watch without you.’

He grinned back, although his eyes were blown, the blue gone to gleaming black. He was stroking his cock, fingers slipping over the big head and thick, veined shaft, wet with pre-cum, ‘I’ve got another idea if you’re game?’

She glared at him, challenge sparking from her eyes, lips curved in her fuck the devil smile, ‘just do it, Monroe.’

He laughed, a deep, dark sound full of sex and intent, leaned forward and picked up one of the wider straps from the pile from her top, ‘you want to know what it feels like, Charlie? Why he wanted it?’

She looked at the strap, then back at him, ‘Yeah…’ She paused, dimple flashing, eyebrow twitching, ‘but maybe not the full walnut, ok?’

His laugh was pure enjoyment this time, then he stretched the strap out to test it between his fists, folding it into two and stretching it again. There was a loud crack as he snapped the doubled-up strap against his palm.

Charlie had been watching his every move and gulped at that, her eyes wide, mouth a little open, tongue dipping out to wet her lips. Her ass swayed and her legs tensed in a kind of reflex movement away from the sound.

‘As you were, Charlie.’ Bass was a tall, broad shape behind her, still on his knees, one hand stroking his cock, the other tight on the strap, face a mask of lust and concentration.

She made herself relax, then sank further forwards onto her elbows, ass rising higher towards him, a luscious, waiting target, her head and shoulders turned towards him, smile wicked, eyes even more. ‘Is this better?’

‘Yeah…’ Then he swallowed, his cock so hard it swung in front of his belly like a pendulum, ‘you ready?’ He leaned forward, brushing the strap through her cleft, the leather dragging the soft flesh behind it and leaving little streaks of moisture on the skin of her inner cheeks from her juices. ‘I’m only gonna to do it twice. That’s all, ok? No more, I don’t want to hurt you.’

She shuddered, a delicious tremor. ‘Ok, twice, and then you’re going to fuck me.’

He swallowed again, chest heaving, breathing hard, lips tight with strain. ‘if I last that long, you look sexy as hell like that.’

Her eyes narrowed, and she tossed her head, hair and breasts swinging, ‘then stop talking and do it, Bass.’

One of his eyebrows lifted and his eyes flashed. ‘Whatever you say, Charlie.’

Crack… 

Charlie gasped as the sudden, hot, sharp sting of the strap spread over her entire ass, sending fiery sparks to her clit and making her wetter than she’d ever been in her entire life. She braced her arms to keep from falling…

Crack…

The second one was even more than that, so much more. It was as though her body took the pain and turned it into hot, hot sensation and a pleasure that seared its way through her veins like streams of lava. Her mouth opened in a soundless scream as something she didn’t have a name for set her body and senses alight and flaming in waves of sensation. She backed up, scrambling on leather covered knees, legs and ass wide open, desperate for him to touch her, fill her up. ‘Bass? Now. Please…’

He dropped the strap and was balls deep inside her in one long, hard thrusting surge that rocked both of them to the core and drove her forwards onto her belly, his weight held off her by braced arms as he drove into her in a hard, driving, furious rhythm that had them panting and sweating in a tangle of arms and legs and breathless, flaming kisses…

……………………………..

Charlie yawned and stretched out against the long, warm, hard body lying behind her, her head pillowed against his shoulder, ‘I think I get it now.’

Bass chuckled, his arm tightening around her, ‘It’s good if the right person does it, in the right way.’

She looked up at him, her smile wicked again, ‘oh yeah...’

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her, ‘c’mon, we’d better get dressed. Sanchez and Ren’ll be here any minute, I can hear the horses.’

‘I thought they’d finally given us some space.’

Bass shrugged and shook his head, ‘nah, I told Sanchez we were going to the ridge on the other side of town, a couple hours ride away at least.’ He kissed her again, ‘I had to do something, couldn’t go another day without touching you.’

Her laugh rang out in the night. ‘Why didn’t I think of that.’

He picked up the strap and started lacing it through the holes in her bustier, fingers gentle on her kiss swollen breasts, lips curved in a satisfied smile. ‘Ex General remember, it’s basic strategy.’

Off in the distance the sound of racing hoof beats got closer.

……………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thanks so much for reading!! Is it Miles or Blanchard putting a spoke in Bass and Charlie’s wheels? Anyway, next chapter up in about a week I think (maybe sooner), hope to see you there. Cheers, Magpie.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:   
> Hi there, and thank you so much for reading and for some lovely comments, Its been hard to find time to write and this has taken much longer than I planned, so a big, big thank you for coming back :) Magpie

Sanchez pulled his horse up in a scatter of small stones and dust with Ren just behind him, both mounts snorting in a lather of sweat. He swung down from his saddle and shook his head, expression a mix of amusement and annoyance in roughly equal amounts. ‘Hey, Charlie. Bass. If I didn’t know better I’d think you were trying to avoid us. Good thing we found your tracks.’

Charlie smirked and lifted a hand, fingers doing a Mexican wave. 

Bass shrugged, one arm draped casually around Charlie’s shoulders, ‘don’t know why you’d think that Sanchez, we’ve been right here waiting for you, in fact we were starting to think you two must have gotten turned around.’

Ren chuckled, light blue eyes sparkling under his sweat streaked blond fringe when he saw Charlie’s flushed cheeks, kiss swollen lips and Bass’ satisfied, smug smile. ‘Must have.’

Sanchez dismounted, walking his horse to cool it down, behind him Ren did the same. He looked across at Bass, meeting his eyes, ‘if it’s all the same to you, we’ve been up here with you the whole time, ok?’

Bass cocked an eyebrow, ‘Sure. Whatever makes Blanchard happy.’

Sanchez huffed, ‘it’s not Blanchard I’m worried about, it’s Miles. He’s expecting a full report on you guys not getting it together as soon as we get to Bradbury.’

Charlie slanted a grin up at Bass, ‘see? I told you it was Miles.’

Bass shook his head, amused but pissed too. ‘Blanchard must have said something to him.’

Sanchez circled round again, then stopped near the others, his horse snorting and reaching down to grab a mouthful of grass. He hooked the reins over a branch. ‘Well whatever Blanchard said, it was enough to make Miles threaten me with a fate worse than death if I let you two be alone long enough to…’ he shrugged, ‘you know.’

Ren brought his own horse round, ‘Chez, they can’t have done anything like that because we’ve been here all the time, remember?’

Sanchez took a deep breath, ‘Ok, whatever. I might make you talk to Miles, I’m not that good at lying… But right now we’d better start thinking about a plan,’ He pointed a thumb towards the tent city down in the valley. ‘Security’s tighter than a drum down there, only way we’re gonna get in to that tent is if we got someone needs healing.’

Bass stood silent for a moment, then took his arm from around Charlie, unbuttoned his shirt and stripped it off.

Charlie frowned, ‘Bass?’

His eyes met hers, a slow, deep pain in them but a steady calm too, ‘it’s ok, Charlie.’ 

She looked at him for a long moment then nodded, silent.

He passed her the shirt then stripped off the singlet underneath.

Sanchez glanced at Ren. ‘D’you know something I don’t?’

Ren shrugged, ‘I’m a medic, I help him out every now and then.’ 

Sanchez looked back at Charlie, worry in his eyes when he saw the look on her face.

Charlie stood very still. The scars from the whipping Bass’d got in Mexico from his own son for fuck’s sake still gave him trouble, even now. The strokes had cut deep into flesh and muscle and damaged nerves in his back, shoulders and neck and they hadn’t healed properly. Ren had been supplying him with liniment and had shown her how to massage it in, where and how to apply pressure to reduce stiffness and adhesions, how to help. Despite that, the pain and stiffness was getting worse especially in colder weather, or the rain. And even though he was still deadly and fought like nothing else she’d ever seen, she knew how much it hurt him, could see it in the lines around his mouth, the tension in his eyes. She knew why he'd been so careful not to hurt her and why she’d trusted him not to.

Bass turned around, showing Sanchez his back.

‘Shit.’ Sanchez marched closer, lips set in a hard line, ‘who the fuck did that to you?’

The scars slashed across the broad shoulders and sculpted back like terrible silver grey and red snakes, knotted and writhing with every movement he made.

Charlie’s face wore an expression of disgust, ‘his son did it to him in Mexico on the orders of a bastard called Nunez.’

Sanchez looked horrified, ‘his son did that?’

Ren came up behind him, put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, ‘yeah, can’t pick your family, huh?’

Bass reached over to Charlie for his clothes, ‘Nunez would have killed Connor if he hadn’t done it, then he’d have finished the job on me himself and I’d be dead for sure.’ 

Charlie’s lips tightened and her eyes were angry as she passed him the singlet and shirt. ‘Yeah, I know. Connor’s a saint.’

Bass took them, his hand holding hers for a moment, his voice low, urgent. ‘I wasn’t there for him, Charlie, I was never there for him, I don’t blame him for being angry, or for what happened in Mexico.’ He took a heavy breath, ‘or since.’ He pulled the singlet over his head and down, wincing just a little as the straps caught the scars on his shoulders, then turned to Sanchez. ‘Do you think it’s enough to get us in?’

Sanchez nodded once, his handsome face grim. His hand covered Ren’s, their fingers lacing together, almost for comfort. ‘It’ll be enough to get us in the front door, but if it’ll be enough to get us close enough to see if the guy’s got a pendant, and if he has to convince him to give it to us or come with us to fight the Nano, I don’t know.’

Ren frowned, ‘I saw him when we checked the place out before. He was making some kind of speech out the front of the tent. He’s younger than I’d thought he’d be, good looking too. He’s not that tall but he wears this long black coat and heel boots that make him look a mile high, and he’s got these scary eyes.’ He shuddered, ‘he doesn’t exactly look like the type who can be talked into doing anything.‘

Bass shrugged, doing up the buttons on his shirt, then he looked up. ‘Only one way to find out.’

……………………………….

Charlie was having ongoing flashbacks to New Vegas as they walked through the crowded carnival style tent city. There were people everywhere. Women, mostly young, mostly pretty in tiny dresses and even tinier lingerie, men flocking around them, barkers advertising last chance to see shows, crowds of rough looking plains nation types in leather and rough woven clothing, tall lines of torches, smells of burning oil, searing meats, fresh bread, alcohol, weed, horse and human sweat and all the other sounds and scents of blackout communities. She recognised the clansmen and women, the regulars, the fighters. And of course there was the fight tent. As they passed it and heard the shouting, the boos and cheers, she glanced up at Bass who was stalking along beside her. He hadn’t even glanced over at the noise, he had his alpha aura on full and the crowds were parting around them like water around a boulder…

His eyes gleamed down at her though, ironic blue, ‘all we need now is Bret Michaels…’

She grinned. 

Sanchez came up alongside them, ‘this is quite a place, looks like they’ve got something for everyone.’

Ren slid an arm around Sanchez’ shoulders, his blond head a bright contrast to his boyfriend’s dark good looks, ’yeah, I spotted a stall back there with some boots I’d kill for.’

Charlie leaned across, ‘mine need re-soling, do you think they’d do repairs?’

He shrugged, ‘maybe,’ he patted Sanchez’ hip with a big hand, ‘this one could do with a new gun belt too…’

Bass shook his head, amused, ’you can all go back and check it out once we get the job done, ok?’ He pointed to a huge red and white tent up ahead, ‘there’s our guy.’ 

Long lines of people, some with visible injuries or the thousand yard stare of people dealing with something overwhelming, others obviously family or loved ones, slowly shuffled forward towards the arched entrance of the tent where guards in long red robes checked for weapons, using chalk to write on then passing out red tokens in exchange for guns and swords… 

Charlie focused on the banner strung above the tent, 'God's red right hand?' She turned to Bass, 'weird name for a healing tent, isn't it?'

He shrugged, ‘If I remember right it’s a quote from an old book called Paradise Lost. God's red right hand was the hand of vengeance against the forces of evil.' He kept walking, brow furrowed in thought, 'I think there was a song about it too, around before the blackout.’

Charlie looked at him, surprised. ‘How d’you know that?’

Ren nodded, ‘he’s right, the song was Red right hand by a guy called Nick Cave. My folks were musicians and mom used to sing it while my dad played guitar. She said he saw the future, how bad it was going to be.'

Sanchez frowned, 'so our man sees himself as the right hand of God?' He bent around Ren so he could see the others, ‘and he’s taking vengeance against who, or what?'

'The Nano maybe?' Charlie was trying to rescue a lock of her hair that had got caught on Bass’ jacket, ‘or the Patriots? he’s healing people hurt by the bombs and the war.’

Bass stopped walking so she could get free, 'hope so, then our job will be dead simple,’

Sanchez and Ren stopped too.

Ren shook his head, ‘you know it's never ever that fucking easy.’

No one contradicted him.

They kept going and joined the queue, coming up behind a woman guiding a younger man, frail and trembling, bandages wrapped round his head, covering his eyes.

The woman glanced back at them, her eyes full of a kind of desperate hope, and a need to talk tension out, ‘The Red hand’s a miracle worker, my son and I’ve been traveling for a month to get here, where’re you folks from?’

Sanchez leaned towards her, ‘down south a ways, and we heard he could heal all kinds of things too,’ he tipped his head towards Bass, ‘so we brought our friend here to see him, hoping it was true.’

She smiled, her gaze catching each of them in turn, lingering on Bass, ‘it’s true alright, I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe.’ She turned to her son, gently urging him forward as the line moved closer to the entrance and the guards. ‘And now we’re almost there, God be praised.’ She shuffled her bag away from her gun belt so it was easier to get to, ‘he’s had wicked people threaten him though, that’s why there’s all the guards and why they’re taking our weapons for safe-keeping.’ 

Bass stooped a little and let some of the pain show on his face, ‘why would people want to threaten someone like him?’

She frowned, ‘they say he’s unnatural, that what he’s doing is against the proper way of things, that he has to be some kind of witch.’ Her eyes flickered and her voice became a whisper, ‘but other people say he’s got access to some kind of power from before the blackout, that they’ve heard sounds, seen lights sometimes…’

Charlie felt Bass go very still beside her, ‘so what do you say?’

They’d reached the tables and the woman turned to help her son, glancing back at them, ‘I say he could be the devil himself and I wouldn’t care as long as he could help my son.’

Then it was their turn.

………………………………………

After surrendering their weapons at the door and pocketing the numbered red tags given them by the guards, Bass, Charlie, Sanchez and Ren made their way through the crowds of excited, expectant sufferers and their companions to find seats as far towards the front as they could. The heady smells of sweat, unwashed bodies and crushed and trampled grass was overwhelming even in the huge space and the smoke from the many lamps and torches settled on everyone’s skin in a greasy layer that Charlie couldn’t wait to wash off in the next river.

She tried not to breathe too hard.

While Bass was busy using his smile and charm to get a couple of people to move over so they could have four seats together in the third row back from the stage, which was a kind of miracle in itself, Sanchez looked around. ‘Where the hell did they find all these chairs anyway?’

Charlie glanced up at him, ‘maybe they’re nano chairs?’

Ren put his arms out to keep his balance as a couple of older people tried to get past him, scowling, ‘they obviously have lots of resources, maybe that’s why they haven’t asked for money yet.’

‘I’m sure they’ll get round to it, probably make us pay to get our weapons back.’ Sanchez sighed in relief as Bass beckoned them forwards. ‘Would you look at that? He did it, he got them to move.’

Charlie grinned and moved in, taking the seat next to Bass. She glanced up at the handsome, confident face, the smug smile, and bumped her shoulder against his hard muscled one just because she could. ’Didn’t doubt it.’

His eyes met hers in a clash of brilliant, hot blue and his hand dropped onto her thigh, the long, calloused fingers looking big, powerful and his grip hard and strong on her flesh. She shivered, remembering the touch of those fingers on her skin, his warm body close to hers. She reached out and ran her hand down his arm to his hand, lacing her own fingers through his and felt his lips close to her ear, his breath hot on her skin as he pressed a kiss on her neck.

He nibbled, tongue licking a little trail on her skin. ’Want to escape again later?’  
Another shiver ran through her and she leaned into his lips. ‘I’m in…’

Sanchez flopped down next to them and sighed, ‘I’m just gonna pretend I don’t see anything, ok?’

Ren chuckled. 

Then there was the sound of voices chanting, the words indistinct, and a line of red robed, black masked figures walked slowly onto the stage, taking positions in a semi circle facing out.

The audience settled, a susurration of excited whispers rippling through the crowd around them that trailed off into an expectant, avid silence.

The lamps dimmed and very, very slowly, the image of a great, red hand appeared on the wall of the tent behind the stage, startling against the pale canvas. A couple of people gasped…

Then a man walked out onto the stage, standing in front of the hand. He had on a long, black coat and was wearing a red glove on his right hand. His face was in shadow until the moment he reached centre stage, then he looked up and a beam of light from somewhere high up in the tent shone down onto his face revealing glittering pale blue eyes, slavic cheekbones and spiked blond hair that seemed to gleam and glisten like a halo around his head.

‘You’re kidding me, you have got to be kidding me.’

Charlie felt Bass go rigid next to her and over the rustle of gasps, sucked in breaths and worshipful moans that rose around her from the rest of the audience she heard the shock and disbelief in his voice. She looked up at him. ’What is it? what’s wrong?’

Bass stared at the man on the stage as the searing blue gaze roamed over the audience, caught, hesitated and returned like a searchlight or a damn magnet to look straight at him, the flaring recognition in those pale eyes unnerving, impossible. ‘It’s got to be a pendant, it can’t be him, he’s dead. I killed him.’

Jeremy Baker smiled, looking very much alive with his arms stretched out wide in welcome and his right hand red as blood. His eyes stayed on Bass as his voice rolled out over the crowd like a warm, inviting siren song. ‘Hello friends and thank you for coming.’ He raised the red gloved hand and pointed at Bass, ‘and I see a man who needs healing and forgiveness…’

……………………………..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hi there and thanks so much for reading - I couldn’t resist bringing Jeremy into this lol! anyway, hope to see you at the next one. cheers, Magpie


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:  
> Hi there, and thank you so much for reading and for your lovely comments, and a big, big thank you for coming back, Revolution is still one of my favourite shows and I’m so glad people still enjoy reading Revo fics. :) Magpie

Ignoring the cheers and screams and the fact that every eye in the place was fucking fixed on him, Bass stared at the stage, trying to work out if it really was Jeremy he was looking at. They were close enough to see the colour of his eyes and the stubble on his chin and the guy looked like his old friend, sounded like him too. So unless the face was a nano illusion, somehow the man he thought he’d had executed was alive, and here. ‘Charlie?’

‘Yeah?’ She was tense, alert and ready to move, just like the soldier she’d become and the war clan warrior she looked like right now.

‘Do you recognise him? If it really is the guy I think it is, he told me that Miles captured him when you and him were heading to Philly after your brother so you’d have seen him up close. His name’s Jeremy Baker.’ 

Charlie looked. The day she learned that Miles was ‘General Miles Matheson, second only to Sebastian Monroe himself,’ was vivid in her memory, and the guy on the stage looked a whole lot like the man who’d told her that. At the time it had rocked her to the core although all of that had stopped mattering somewhere along the way… She nodded, ’Yeah, I remember, and it looks like him, but that might not mean anything, the Magician used her pendant to look like Blanchard - and Miles.’ 

The Red right hand watched them as some more red robed people filed onto the stage and started singing a slow, chanting song, his gaze steady, calm, curious. His face was striking, powerful, the body ditto.

Charlie remembered that man’s defiance, his calm certainty even in front of Miles and probable death. This man’s eyes had the same certainty, the same quiet strength. She didn’t know if a pendant could recreate that. ‘It could be a pendant, but I think it is him, Bass, and he recognised you, even dressed like that.’

Around them the sound of the crowd died down to an expectant murmur as everyone listened to the music and waited for something else to happen…

‘Yeah, he did.’ Bass was still for a moment. Then he stood up.

Ren sucked in a breath and Sanchez hissed, ‘what the fuck are you doing?’

The Red right hand looked pleased and cheers and shouts of encouragement echoed up to the top of the tent as people around them noticed Bass.

Charlie stood up too, feeling the weight of those piercing, light blue eyes move from Bass to her, calculation and a kind of admiration moving through them. 

The Red hand nodded, his lop-sided smile curving the side of his mouth, ‘Miss Matheson, it’s good to see you still alive, although I seem to remember you being blonde?’ He glanced at Bass then back at her, an eyebrow rising, ’and you’re here with him? I can’t wait to hear about that.’ His eyes fell on Bass again, ‘love the tattoos by the way.’ He stalked to the edge of the stage, the tails of his black coat floating behind him. ’So, why’d you come to me, Bass. For healing? Or forgiveness?’ The smile faded, the eyes turning remote, ironic. ‘Or maybe both.’

Bass was silent for a moment, gazing up at the man on the stage, memory shadowing his face. ’Both.’ Then he stripped off his shirt and tank in one go and turned round, the scars on his back vivid and terrible in the lamplight.

There was a chorus of gasps from the seats around them and a rustle of movement as people further away craned to see.

‘Looks like someone apart from me got really mad at you.’ Jeremy stepped down from the stage, followed by several of his red robed guards, walked the few steps to their row and stood there, a tall, dark presence, the fingers of his red gloved hand bent beneath his chin. ‘It’s kind of traditional for people to tell their stories up there before I do my thing,’ he tipped his head towards the stage. ‘So is there a short version of how you got those scars? Or do people just keep trying to kill you.’ 

When she saw the dark look on Bass’ face, Charlie quickly stepped forward, ‘a warlord in Mexico did it when Bass was his prisoner.’

Jeremy glanced at her, his eyes curious, assessing, but not unfriendly, ‘Really? I’m looking forward to hearing more about that one too.’ He turned back to Bass, ‘I’m assuming you’re both in disguise for a reason? Is it because of me or are you hiding from someone else?’

‘We’re with a Texas hunting squad tracking down Patriots and It made sense to look a little different.’ Bass shrugged, but his eyes were still edging to dark. ’We got some intel about this place and came to check it out. Didn’t know it was you.’

‘I’m no Patriot, I’m doing what I can to fix things up that they’ve broken.’

‘They sent the bombs, Jer, and then they tried to blame me.’

‘I heard that, didn’t believe it, you weren’t that crazy.’ 

Bass stood very still, ‘I was, I know it now. But I didn’t do that.’

Charlie heard the rising murmurs, saw the impatient movements in the seats around them and cleared her throat, ‘hey, maybe you two should have this talk later? Maybe when there isn’t an audience?’ 

Both men turned to her, their faces wearing almost identical expressions of surprise.

She spread her hands, ‘just saying.’

Bass looked at Jeremy, ‘she’s right.’

‘Yeah, but this isn’t finished.’

‘I know’. Bass nodded, ‘later?’

Jeremy lips tightened. ‘Oh yeah…’

Sanchez had been watching and shook his head, leaning in close to Ren’s ear. ’Shit. I said this was a bad idea.’ 

Ren hissed back, ‘it was your idea, moron. Remember? And Bass knows the guy, it might mean we’ve got a chance at completing the mission.’

‘Saying Bass was in need of healing AND forgiveness, kind of implies there’s something to forgive, doesn’t it?’ Sanchez sank back into his chair, ‘we’re fucked…’

Ren rolled his eyes, ‘have a little faith, Chez. Bass and Charlie have always come through before, haven’t they?’

Sanchez shrugged, ‘Yeah, I guess…’ But he couldn't stop his hands reaching for weapons that weren’t there, ‘I’ve just got a bad feeling about this whole thing.’

Bass bent down, grabbed his shirt and tank from the chair with one hand and put the other on Charlie’s shoulder, squeezing lightly. ‘Look after these for me?’

She took them and nodded, ‘I’ll be here,’ her eyes darted up to meet his, ’be careful, ok?’

He bent and kissed her, his lips warm and hard, his voice a barely there whisper, ‘I’ll try, but if something happens to me you cut and run, ok? Take Sanchez and the guys and go find Miles and your mom.’

She put a hand on his chest as she kissed him back, her fingers spreading out over the muscled flesh and smooth skin over his heart. ‘If you think I’m going anywhere without you now, you’re crazy, I want to see Miles’ face when he finds out that we got away from Sanchez.’

Bass choked off a laugh, ‘he’s going to try to kill me again…’

Jeremy coughed and rubbed his nose with a red gloved finger. ‘So at least some things haven’t changed since I almost got shot on the orders of my insane and paranoid CO and supposed friend.’ 

Bass flinched. ‘You don’t know how many times I wished I could’ve taken it back, Jer. I’m sorry.’

A sandy eyebrow rose. ’Apology taken into consideration. Now can we get on with the show?’ Jeremy turned and made for the stage, waving for attention, voice raised to be heard over the hum of conversation. ’Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for your patience,’ he shrugged, ‘but we finally have our first guest for the night so please make him welcome.’

There was a roar of approval and applause from around the tent that settled quickly into a hushed quiet, a sense of anticipation.

Bass stroked his hand down Charlie’s arm, taking a last look at her face, twisting his fingers through long, soft curls and wishing for honey blond hair, not the dyed black she wore now, watching her take a deep breath and feeling her fingers, cool and gentle on the heated, scar roughened skin of his back. 

Then he let go of her, his hands reluctant, fingers lingering, then he brushed past Ren and Sanchez and followed Jeremy and the guards, climbing the small flight of steps up onto the wooden platform of the stage. The light from the many lamps hung around them was bright and hot on the bare skin of his back and chest, the stares of the audience even hotter. He felt raw, exposed, this was different to being on show in the tent in New Vegas, different to being the General. He’d been used to the roar of the crowd then, to being in the ring, on stage, on parade. This was different, this was Jeremy’s show. He was the one with the power this time if what they’d seen was true. And if it was? Then somehow they needed to acquire whatever it was he had or convince him to help them against the Nano in Bradbury. 

Things’d be a lot less complicated if the Red right hand wasn’t Jeremy Baker.

He walked to the centre of the stage remembering to hunch over a little more than he had to, then looked out at the rings of faces and found Charlie’s eyes. They were full of something he hadn’t expected, hadn’t dared hope for, still couldn’t quite believe. He allowed himself to sink into vibrant blue, to feel her energy and her strength, just for a moment, because he really wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. But he’d never backed away from anything or anyone in his life, so he straightened up, stretching his neck, circling his shoulders as though he was getting ready for a fight, feeling the electric surge of adrenalin as it kicked in. 

Jeremy walked up beside him, that ironic, lop sided smile achingly familiar, he’d seen it a hundred times before things went sour, although this time it wasn't intended for him. 

Bass felt his insides clench at the thought of what he’d done, what he’d thought he’d done anyway. Up until a few minutes ago Jeremy had been one of his many ghosts, a stinging regret haunting his dreams. Because Jeremy hadn’t betrayed him. It had been his own paranoia, his own madness that had made him lash out at the man who’d stuck by him when everyone else had left, even Miles, especially Miles. 

Forgiveness was more than he deserved, but he’d take it if it was offered. And healing? He’d be glad of that too, although he didn’t deserve that either. And even after what they’d seen from up at the lookout, even after their experiences with the Magician, part of him still needed convincing that this was anything more than snake oil and mirrors.

Jeremy lifted his hand above his head, holding something that glinted with a silvery sheen through his fingers. ‘Are you ready?’ His voice was soft, but it seemed to carry around the tent louder and longer than should be possible, the echoes of it fluttering like whispers in a cave.

Bass looked around, the lights had dimmed and all he could see were vaguely human shapes disappearing back into shadows, he couldn’t see Charlie or the others clearly although a standing figure had to be her, it was in the right location and the silhouette was about right. He blinked, shaking his head to try and clear it although instead of alarm he felt light headed, euphoric, a little like he’d felt after waking up from his execution. So had he been drugged? He blinked again…

Then everything went black.

………………………….

He could hear voices close by, angry voices, familiar voices. Charlie?

Then everything went black again. A fuzzy, warm, comfortable black and he fell into it, his whole body feeling like putty, with no pain or thought for anything else but peace and comfort for the first time in what felt like forever…

Shit. He dragged his eyes open with what felt like an incredible effort, although still couldn’t seem to move anything else. One of the voices had been Charlie, he was sure of it. Was she in trouble? What the hell was happening?

He somehow managed to focus on the voices, forcing his eyes to follow the sound, his blood running cold when he found her, crouched in a fighting stance and backlit by flickering torches, hair flying wild like her eyes and a knife in her hand. There were taller figures strung around her in a rough semi circle and Pottsboro flashed through his mind like a blade through his flesh until he saw Sanchez and Ren beside her, flanking her, fists up and ready and relief flooded him. She wasn’t alone. 

He had time to get there. 

Part of him was busy figuring out where he was, while the rest of him worked on persuading his reluctant body to get fucking moving.

He wasn’t in the big tent anymore, it looked like he was in an enclosure of some kind, a cage? Fuck. Memories of the slaver cage they’d put him in to drag him into Austin had him breathing fast, his mind wiped crystal clear in fighting reflex and hot denial, peace and comfort abandoned like the lies they’d always been. 

He struggled to move and finally found his voice although it was cracked and sounded like it belonged to someone else. ‘Charlie?’

She swung round, that dissonant black hair flying and her eyes wide and bright with incandescent and totally Matheson fury. And were those tears in there too? 

He blinked hard, not quite believing.

She stared at him, fury fading, relief and something else that caught his breath and jolted his heart taking its place.

‘You’re alive.’

……………………………..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thanks so much for reading :) next chapter up soon! cheers, Magpie


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:   
> Hi there, and thank you so much for reading, for some lovely comments and another big, big thank you for coming back. I hope this one answers your questions Sparrowhawke :) cheers, Magpie

‘I thought you were dead, Bass.’ Charlie tossed back the rest of her glass of whiskey and leaned back against his chest, the alcohol harsh, a sweet and welcome burn in her throat, the flame of the lamp hanging from the centre pole of the small tent flickering bright on her face, lashes casting long shadows that hooded her eyes. ‘The guy waved his hands over you and you just fell down.’

The sounds of the tent city carnival were muffled at this distance and they were alone, for the time being anyway. Sanchez and Ren had gone to round up the rest of their troop and fill them in on what had happened and Jeremy, God’s righteous Red right hand was still on stage, doing his healing thing. Which actually worked, there was no doubt of that now. And it had to be a pendant, if not that then what? Another trick of the Nano?

She looked up at him, eyes full of the embers of fury, worry and frustration. ’When I got up on that stage you weren’t breathing and I couldn’t wake you up. Then Jeremy’s men came and took you away and put you in that damn cage spouting some stupid crap about people being unpredictable sometimes when they come round and that you only looked dead. Of course I lost it.’

Bass shifted a little on the old leather couch to make room for her, one arm wrapping around her slim, curvy torso, pulling her in close, his now blissfully non painful back and shoulders moving easily with no stiffness or tightness anywhere, just smooth, muscled power. He grinned. The pendant had apparently gone over him with a fine tooth comb, not only his back but his left forearm was baby smooth now - the heavy scars that obscured his old tattoo just gone, and his vision was perfect too, the little problem with his left eye gone as though it had never been. The nanotech had also fixed the little nagging pain in his right hip from an old injury during his last tour in Iraq and replaced the cap on a back molar broken playing ball as a kid with brand new enamel. He’d had to spit the cap out. His hair felt thicker, beard fuller too, he stretched his legs out, hell, it had even fixed the holes in his boots.

He bent and nuzzled her neck, enjoying the feel of her, the lithe, female strength… and even black her hair was soft, springy against his face and held a scent that was pure Charlie. ‘I don’t remember any of that, just waking up in that cage and hearing your voice.’ He kissed the soft skin under her ear, lips lingering, tasting her. ‘You were going to fight for me, Charlie. You cared enough to do that. Do you know how much that means to me?’ 

She twisted round in his arms, straddling him, her elbows on his shoulders, knees bent either side of his hips and her face close to his, ‘I thought you’d died on me again, Bass Monroe, and I don’t know what I’d do anymore in a world without you in it.’ She kissed him, her lips full and hard and sweet.

He pulled her closer, arms hard around her waist, hands roving up her back and into her hair, long fingers stroking her scalp, eyes a searing, wicked blue, ‘yeah, you’d be bored out of your brain.’

She laughed, teeth catching her bottom lip, ‘egotistical bastard.’

He took a deep breath, let it out, grinned. ’Can’t argue with that.’ He pulled back a little so he could see her face, ‘so what did you see happen up there? Was it a pendant?’

‘Yeah, it was.’ There was the rustle of canvas and Jeremy’s voice came from the door flap behind them. ‘is that what you came here for? You planning on conquering the world again?’

Charlie swung around in a move almost too fast to see, a throwing star in one hand, ready to cast, ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Jeremy turned side on to make himself a smaller target, lifting an arm between her aim and his head in an automatic defence, his blond hair, red glove and black coat stark against the pale walls of the tent. ’I’m not even going to ask where you hid that, Miss Matheson but I’ll have to have a word with my guys about doing a proper search. Just out of curiosity, do you ever run out of ammo?’

She smirked, eyes hard, not relaxing for a moment. ‘Haven’t yet.’

His eyes shifted to Bass, and he let his arm fall. ’Does Miles know how much like him she is?’

Bass laughed. ’He has no idea.’ He bent to her ear, ‘I think you can put the throwing star away now, Charlie.’

She shrugged but didn’t move, ’I will when he calls off his goons.’

Jeremy swept a hand out towards the door and his guards backed away out of sight. ’Ok, no goons, See? Just us. I need to talk to both of you.’

Charlie made the star disappear then flipped over, settling in next to Bass on the couch so they were both facing the other man. ‘Ok, talk.’

Jeremy’s lips twisted into a wry smile, ‘alright then.’ He pulled up a folding chair, set it up and sat down facing them, face turning serious. ’So you’re both working for Texas fighting the Patriots, heard about the show and thought you’d just turn up and ask me to help?’

Bass sat up a little, reaching for the bottle of whiskey and pouring them each a measure. ‘Not exactly. We are working for Texas and we’re still fighting the patriots, or what’s left of them anyway. But we’re also searching for any nanotech we can find. Rachel said there were twelve pendants, but we know that Randall Flynn had a team making more. So we’re following up any rumours that sound like there could be one involved. Your show fitted the bill, I had no idea it was you though.’

Jeremy frowned. ‘Why do you need pendants? and why should I believe you?’

Bass looked down for a moment, then met the other man’s eyes. ‘Because things are different now. I’m not crazy, Jer. I’m asking you to believe me, to believe us, not ordering you to. But right now, Miles and Rachel are in Bradbury, Idaho getting ready to fight some weird mutant tech that wants to take over the world and that makes the Patriots look like chicken shit. We need as much help as we can get to make sure they win that fight.’ He handed a glass to Charlie. 

She took it, but didn’t drink, swirling the amber liquid in the glass. ‘Miles and my mom are waiting for us outside of Bradbury with some friends of ours. One of them was possessed by the Nano for a while and she saw what it wanted, what it could do to everyone, everywhere, if we don’t stop it.’

Bass nodded. ’We’ve found one pendant already, it belongs to someone called the Magician. She was one of the team working on the nanotech back before the blackout and she’s worked out a plan for using the tech to fight this thing in Bradbury. Thing is though, we need at least three pendants for the plan to have a chance of working.’ He picked the last two glasses up and passed one to Jeremy, ‘so we’re hoping you’ll think about letting us borrow yours.’ His eyes met the other man’s, serious, cautious, hopeful? ‘Or maybe I’m hoping you can let bygones be bygones and come with us to help save the world?’

Jeremy sucked in a breath. ‘That’s quite a story, and it helps that I’ve already heard a few things on the wind about something weird going down in Idaho.’ He nodded slowly, sipping his whisky. ‘So let me get this straight.’ He glanced from Bass to Charlie then back again. ‘You two are together?’ 

They both nodded.

He whistled through his teeth, ‘wow, no way would I have seen that coming. And you and Miles are buddies again?’

Bass shrugged, ‘kind of…’

Jeremy chuckled, ‘glad something hasn’t changed.’ He sat back in his chair, ‘and Miles is back with Rachel. Guess she’s forgiven him for what he did back in Philly then?’

Charlie tensed, fingers white around her glass. 

He noticed. ‘Did she tell you about that, Miss Matheson?’

She nodded, staring at the ground. ‘Yeah, some of it, Miles has too.’ She looked up at him, ‘we’ve all done bad things, and we’ve all had to come to terms with them and move on or go crazy about all the complicated stuff.’ She tossed her drink back, ‘oh, and call me Charlie. Miss Matheson sounds like I’m a teacher or something.’

His lips curved, ‘Ok, Charlie,’ He turned to Bass, ‘and you still haven’t asked me how I survived your little firing squad. Which is something I’m still coming to terms with by the way.’

Charlie glanced from him to Bass, ’firing squad?’

Bass shrugged, ’I figured we’d get to that sooner or later.’

Jeremy drained his glass and put it back on the table with a little click. ’Then lets make it sooner, because the suspense is gonna kill me again.’ He shifted in his seat, eyes hooded. ‘So after you made that paranoid little speech about how I had to be a rebel spy because I survived that assassination attempt on you and you left the room, that fucking creep of a Sergeant went ahead and shot me.’

Bass winced. ‘I was wrong, Jeremy, I’m sorry.’

‘Yeah, you were. And I haven’t finished yet.’ He blew out a breath, ‘Anyway, I remember being hit and falling, then nothing until I woke up on a crappy bed in some broken down house on the outskirts of town with a crazy looking scientist guy handing me a pendant telling me it was Christmas and that I had to go heal the world.’ He poured himself another drink and tossed it back. ‘Your men had tossed me on a wagon and left me for dead but luckily Lenny found me. I never found out why, but he decided to save me.’ He reached into a pocket in his coat and pulled out a familiar silver oval, holding it up in the air by its chain. It swayed gently. ‘He said he was part of Flynn’s shadow group of scientists and that they’d been working on the same tech as Ben and Rachel Matheson.’ He glanced at Charlie, ‘poor son of a bitch seemed to think your mom was some kind of genius, in fact the reason he and his friends went to Philly in the first place was because they’d heard a rumour that she was there.’

She didn’t smile. ‘My mom the genius invented the thing that caused the Blackout and ended the world and then when she tried to turn it off it somehow came to life, went insane and now it’s treating people like lab rats in its own private science experiment so it can end the world again. Excuse me if I’m not a fan…’

A pale eyebrow went up, ‘I see your point, but maybe it wasn’t all bad. Lenny was working on a medical application of the nanotech before the blackout and they’d been getting some great results, although apparently there was some weird doctor in charge of his group, name of Horn I think. Anyway Lenny said the doc had some very strange ideas.’

‘Horn?’ Bass and Charlie exchanged a look…

‘Yeah, Lenny didn’t trust him, thought he was crazy,’ Jeremy shrugged, ‘which was saying something, because Len was pretty out there all on his own. But the thing was, Len managed to hide most of what he was doing from Horn, then got away from him and Flynn with a few others from the group after the blackout hit. Him and his friends spent the next fifteen years in hiding improving the technology.’ He held up his pendant. ‘This little beauty can do things you wouldn’t believe.’

Bass leaned forwards, the movement easy, smooth and pain free and his lips twitched a little. ‘Believe me, I believe you. So where are these guys now? Do they have anything else that could help us?’ 

Jeremy drained his glass. ‘Sorry, but as far as I know they were in Philly when the bombs fell.’ He glanced up at Bass, ‘they were still hoping you and the Militia would turn things around, poor saps.’

Bass went very still, ‘a lot of people counted on me to turn things around and I let them all down.’

Charlie glared at him, ‘I thought you were over that poor me guilty crap, there was no way of knowing that Flynn was planning to send the bombs, he used you and he used my mom and Aaron to get what he wanted.’

Bass ran a hand through his hair, ‘I still should have noticed something.’

She sighed. ‘No one expected him to do what he did, none of us noticed anything.’

Jeremy shrugged. ‘There’s no point going back over all that stuff, especially as it sounds like there are plenty of other things to worry about right now.’ He leaned forwards, ‘and I hadn’t finished telling my story.’

Two sets of blue eyes fixed on him. Bass lifted a hand, urging him on, ‘go on then.’

Jeremy sat back again, ‘well, lucky for me I wasn’t actually in Philly itself when the bombs fell.’ He held the pendant up by its chain. ‘And that I had this with me. I got caught in the fallout though and would’ve died again if I hadn’t used it on myself. After that I just kept travelling around, doing what I could to heal the world like Lenny told me to.’ He put the pendant on the table, patting it lightly, as though it was a kind of pet. ‘And now it’s led me back to you. Feels like fate, doesn’t it?’

Bass looked up, hopeful, ’so you’re coming with us?’

Jeremy poured another round, ‘do you really think I’d give it to you? I’m not letting it out of my sight so yeah, of course I’m coming with you. You still owe me big time for what you did to me back in Philly, and for fixing your back so I’m expecting some serious appreciation from you and President Blanchard in return for my help.’ He smirked, ‘I also want to see what Miles does when you two turn up joined at the hip.’ He lifted his glass in a toast and a slow grin curved his mouth when he saw their faces. ‘He already knows about it? Now I really can’t wait.’ He drank, the grin wider. ‘So who’s the Magician?  
…………………………………

‘Do you think he believed us?’ Charlie kicked her horse into a trot as she and Bass headed out of the tent city and though the woods back to camp to join the others. The moon was full and bright above them and the countryside was laid out like a beautiful blue and silver shadowed map, the track they were following a shining ribbon over the hills.

Bass tossed her a look, ‘I’m still not sure I believe it myself.’

A shadow floated over the moon…

They both jumped and glanced up, startling the horses. 

Charlie shivered and pulled her mare back into line, ‘be careful, you don’t know what’s listening.’

He chuckled but his eyes scanned the woods around them, alert. ‘Yeah, I’m beginning to wonder who we should be more worried about, the Nano in Bradbury or the guys on our side.’

‘It’s gonna be interesting when the two of them meet up in a few days at the rendezvous point ’

‘In a few nights. The Magician doesn’t go out during the day, remember?’

‘The Magician and God’s Red right hand,’ Charlie blew out a breath, ‘I wonder who Blanchard’ll send us chasing after next? The easter bunny?’

Bass clicked his horse on, the breeze blowing his hair back and tickling his scruff, ’I guess we’ll find out soon enough,’ He darted those incredible, wickedly blue eyes at her, ‘hey, did you notice Sanchez didn’t even try to follow us this time?’

She grinned back at him, the moonlight bleaching the black of her hair until it almost looked her usual blonde and making the skin of her breasts above the tight bustier gleam pale against the dark leather. ‘Maybe he’s just giving us a head start?’

He pulled up under the shadow of a big oak, jumped off, and held out his arms to catch her, ’guess we’d better be quick then.’

She followed him, sliding down off her horse and into his arms, her lips searching for his and finding them as his hands gripped her hips to hold her up, pulling her in hard against him, her thighs twining around his waist, arms around his neck, breasts crushed against his chest.

He swung her round, his tall, hard muscled, warm and vibrantly male body eager, urgent, leaning her back against the solid strength of the tree, the smooth trunk warm and hard, alive behind her, its heavy clouds of leaves rustling around them on branches trembling in a sweet night scented breeze. 

The horses snorted, fallen twigs cracking under their hooves as they searched around under the tree for grass and Charlie laughed against his mouth in a whiskey flavoured kiss that was melting her bones. She snaked a hand down between them, reaching for the buttons of his pants, flicking them open and smiling with satisfaction as her fingers circled the hard ridge of his cock, ’I like quick…’  
………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thanks so much for reading!! you are awesome, hope to see you at the next one…


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hi there, thanks so much for reading, and for coming back. I really appreciate it and hope you're enjoying the story. I love the idea of the pendants, and their potential, and I wanted to give Jeremy some more screen time too lol. Anyway, hope to see you at the next chapter - not too far away. cheers, Magpie

‘He’s got to be fucking kidding.’ Bass passed the note to Charlie, ’here, have a look at this, the old bastard’s gonna get us killed.’ He drained his mug of coffee and set it down on the little table in front of their tent.

She read it and shrugged, re-rolling the note and giving it back, ’so what’s new? At least it’s on the way to the rendezvous.’

‘Sir, Ma’am, can I have your reply? I really need to be going, the President said to go straight back.’ The courier was young, brash and impatient to be off, his horse wasn’t quite so eager though, standing head down, legs splayed, not even bothering to swish away the flies buzzing around his legs in the morning sunshine.

Bass looked at the horse and frowned, ‘soldier, you’re not going anywhere on that horse until he’s had a spell, he won’t make the distance.’

The courier barely gave the animal a glance, ‘he’ll have to, sir, I don’t have another mount, and President Blanchard wants your answer as soon as possible.’ He took a breath. ‘Sir.’

Charlie gave him an unfriendly glare and tipped her head towards the camp horse lines down the hill near the river. ’Take him down and swap him for a horse from our second string. By the time you saddle up and get back here we’ll have an answer for you.’

The courier blinked and straightened up into a salute when he saw the look, ‘yes, ma’am, thank you ma’am.’ He nodded at Bass, ‘sir.’ Then he grabbed his horse’s reins and pulled the tired beast away.

Bass shook his head, ‘shit, sometimes I really miss mobile phones.’

‘What?’ Charlie turned to him from watching the courier.

He pulled out a piece of parchment and a precious pencil stub. ‘Nothing. Turn around?’ He looked her up and down as she did, ‘you looked great with black hair, but I’m glad it washed out.’

She grinned, ‘me too, glad your tattoos are hanging in there though,’

He twitched an eyebrow, ‘the guy’s good, maybe I’ll get him to do a couple of real ones.’

‘Maybe I will too.’ She backed up to him, offering her shoulder as a support but peering around so she could see his face, long dark gold strands curling down her back, the faintest trace of sooty black around her hairline. ‘So what’s so bad about this place Blanchard’s sending us to anyway? Is it that dangerous?’

He moved some of the strands of soft hair out of the way, fingers lingering on the smooth skin underneath, then spread the parchment out, holding it in place with the heel of one hand and writing with the other. ‘Well, It’s entirely possible we could die, or maybe just end up glowing at night.’ He finished off the note with a flourish, rolling and tying it with a piece of twine. ’Which is why we’re going in alone and why I’m sending a rider to tell Jeremy to meet us there instead of at the rendezvous. We might need him and his pendant if we want to get back out in one piece.’

She stretched her shoulders out, turning to run a hand up his chest, fingers finding the small nub of a nipple under his shirt, enjoying his sharp intake of breath as she played with it. ’Jeremy seems like a smart man, I’m guessing he’ll charge Blanchard plenty for the over and above.’ She pressed close, feeling his body hard and hot and urgent against hers, his arm around her pulling her closer. ’So… Atomic city. It sounds kinda interesting.’

‘Ma’am? Sir?’ the voice of the courier came from behind her, along with the whicker of a fresh and eager horse. ‘Are you ready?’

Charlie stayed where she was, lips curving in a wicked smirk and her eyes holding the electric blues gazing down at her as she took the note from Bass’ hand and held it out towards the courier, not bothering to look as she leaned into the hard ridge pressing against her belly. ‘Damn straight we are, now go away.’

There was a kind of strangled cough, and a tug as fingers took the note from her hand. ’Yes ma’am.’ Then there was just the scuffle of mounting then the sound of rapidly receding hooves.

Bass chuckled, his hands roving over her back and down to her hips, pulling her closer, his lips searching for hers. ‘You’re one scary woman, d’you know that?’

Returning the kiss, Charlie snaked her hand down between them, her fingers sliding under his worn belt to the warm flesh underneath, following the line of softly curling belly hair down southwards, feeling the heavy bulge of his cock stirring, getting harder as she wrapped her fingers round his length. ‘He was a dick.’ She leaned forwards, pushing him back towards the door flap, ‘now I figure we’ve got at least an hour free before we need to pack up, how about we make the most of it?’ 

He chuckled, taking her weight and carrying her backwards into the shadowy warmth of the tent, ‘you’re reading my mail.’

……………………………

‘So this place was all about the power? The same kind of power that was in the bombs?’ Charlie passed Bass the binoculars, then leaned on her elbows, peering over the ridge of crumbling roof tiles. They’d climbed onto the roof of an abandoned farm house built on a ridge across from their target so they could check the place out before heading in.

He took the glasses, put them to his eyes and trained them on the innocent looking small town nestled against the side of the hill across the valley. ‘Yeah, although this was mostly a research facility from what I remember, they built about fifty nuclear power plants around here, most of ‘em underground though, built into the hills. Which is why we can’t seem much.’ He did a sweep of the buildings. ‘There were only a couple still working when the blackout happened, anyway, the rest had been decommissioned, which was a damn good thing because without electricity to run it, this place could’ve poisoned half the map.’ He put the glasses down and turned to her, ‘It looks ok to me, but we could be breathing in radioactive soup for all I know.’

‘Blanchard seems to think there’s someone here, and that they’ve got a pendant.’

‘Yeah, we just have to find him or her.’ Jeremy’s voice came from behind them, and got closer as he hunkered down next to Charlie, ’Oh, and by the way there’s no danger either, from radioactivity anyway. The place is clean as a proverbial whistle.’

Bass turned and frowned, ‘and you know that how?’

Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar silver oval, swinging it gently, ‘my little friend hasn’t sounded the alarm so it’s safe as houses, hereabouts anyway.’ He looked down at the long grass and tangled undergrowth around the old house, eyes innocent. ’Although there could be snakes.’

Bass jumped, ‘snakes? Where…’ He stopped and glared at the other man. ‘Bastard’. 

Jeremy smirked.

‘There aren’t any snakes, wrong time of year.’ Charlie glanced at the pendant then at the men on either side of her, ‘and no alarm is a good thing. Isn’t it?’

Bass met Jeremy’s gaze, noting the slight concern in the light blue eyes, ‘yeah, I guess. The online power plants would’ve had automatic shut-downs in case of a blackout, but in fifteen years I can’t believe there wouldn’t have been some kind of leakage.’ He shuffled back, climbing back down the stepped roof and onto the coal house to ground level.

The others followed him down.

‘Unless someone had a way of neutralising it.’ Jeremy slid down to the ground, dusted himself off and pulled a pair of aviators out of a top pocket, slipping them on. ’So how about we go into town, check things out?’

Bass shook his head. ‘That’s not why I asked you to come. We can’t afford to have anything happen to you.’ He grinned, ‘who knows, they could be cannibals and eat me. I’ll go down and see if I can find pendant guy and I’ll signal you and Charlie if it’s safe to come in. But if something happens that you can’t fix with your little gadget I want you take her and keep going to the rendezvous, ok?’

Charlie faced him, eyes stormy. ‘No. It’s not ok, and that’s a stupid plan. We can’t afford to lose you either.’ She slung her bow and pack over her shoulder. ’We’ll go in together. I cover you, you cover me, and if anything happens we’ll deal with it together.’ She poked a finger into his chest, face determined as she looked up at him. ‘Like we always do.’

Bass stared down at her, not moving. ’Charlie, listen. I’m not essential to the mission, Jeremy is, and if something happens to me that he can’t fix you need to take charge of the troop, and take him and the Magician to help Miles and your mom in Bradbury.’

‘Not without you, you moron.’ Then she put her hand flat against his chest, head bowed, her voice quiet, intense. ’You’re not leaving me. I won’t let you.’

Jeremy groaned, ‘God, this is like watching a fucking soap opera.’ He rolled his eyes, ‘I’m getting diabetes just standing next to you. And look…’ He pointed towards the road leading down to the town, ‘no one needs to go anywhere because I think they’re coming to us.’ He chuckled, ‘and unless I’m seriously mistaking the situation, I don't think we’re in any immediate danger, in fact it might even turn out to be a party.’

Charlie turned to look, her eyes going wide, ‘what’re they doing, and why are they wearing masks?’ She grabbed for the binoculars, ‘and why are some of them naked?’

‘I think they’re dancing.’ Bass sounded a little bemused, ‘some kind of religious rite maybe?’

Jeremy shrugged, ’I spent some time on the Cali border a few months ago and it looks like a blessing ceremony. They go around in costumes and masks singing and dancing to make the place fertile.’ He winked, lips curving into a lop sided grin. ‘The nights get really interesting if you know what I mean. Those Cali gals and guys take their fertility rites very seriously.’ The grin faded a little, ‘never heard of it happening round these parts though, especially with the Mormon stronghold so close.’

‘Now they’re glowing,’ Charlie swung back to Bass, ‘isn’t that bad? You said something before about glowing being bad.’

Jeremy had another look at his pendant, ‘whatever the glow is, it’s not radiation. According to this we’re still ok.’

‘Maybe it’s something to do with the other pendant? Maybe this guy’s something like the Magician.’ Bass took the binoculars back from Charlie and lifted them to his eyes again, jerking in surprise. ’What the fuck? they’re all looking at us,’ He lowered them and glanced at Charlie. ‘and those masks are really creeping me out, the eyes are weird.’

Charlie grabbed the glasses, ‘give me those.’ She looked, ‘ok, damn… definitely weird. And how can they see us from down there?’

‘Don’t know, but they can and they’re heading this way. But at least they’re not shooting at us,’ He shrugged, lifted an arm and waved, some of the dancers waved back. ‘No point hiding now, grab your crap, we might as well ride on down and say hi.’

……………………………….

The horses were snorting, heads tossing as they got closer to the dancers, the sounds of voices, drums, flutes and something like a shrieking moan floating up towards them.

‘What the hell is that noise?’ Charlie made a face.

Jeremy lifted an eyebrow, ‘they’ve got bagpipes, how wonderful.’

Bass grinned, ‘reminds me of basic training.’ 

‘you’ve gotta be kidding me, they made you listen to that?’ Charlie shook her head, ‘that’s just cruel…’

The music got louder and then around the next bend in the tree lined road, they found themselves facing a crowd of colourful figures, singing and dancing, some in wild, tattered costumes, some wearing nothing but their masks, all spreading out onto a large grassy clearing at the side of the road and gathering in front of a half circle of tall standing stones. 

At some kind of unseen signal, the revellers stopped moving, the music and singing ceased and there was silence except for the sound of the wind in the trees and the clip clop of horses hooves as Charlie, Bass and Jeremy got closer.

Two figures were waiting for them by the side of the road. A man and a woman, their tall, tanned and well formed bodies nude except for doe and stag masks, large dark eyes glittering with flickering lights. Around each strong neck was a silvery oval pendant on a plaited leather thong. 

‘Shit,’ Charlie was busy trying to settle her startled, wary horse, ‘they’ve got two of them.’ 

……………………………..


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note  
> Hi there, and thank you so much for reading, for some lovely comments and again another big, big thank you for coming back, it's been hard finding time to write lately, but this story keeps drawing me back to it. :) cheers, Magpie

Bass pulled his horse up a little way up the road from their eerily quiet and naked except for the weird masks reception committee. ’Jer, show ‘em yours.’

Jeremy pulled his own horse to a snorting stop and glanced at him, startled. ‘What?’

Bass rolled his eyes. ‘Your pendant, moron.’

Charlie smirked.

‘I knew that.’ Jeremy sounded just a little defensive, but he pulled his pendant out from under his shirt and held it up, the silver bright against the red glove he’d put on when they’d seen the procession coming up the road.

There was a gasp and a kind of rustling, low moan from the people gathered under the stone circle. 

The two waiting for them on the road turned to each other, then to Jeremy, the deer masks strangely expressive, almost curious, expectant. 

The man stepped forwards. ‘Who are you?’ His voice was low and muffled by the mask, but it carried well enough.

The woman joined him, one hand going to her pendant. ’And who sent you?’ A wind picked up, blowing leaves into little swirls around her feet, lifting the long dark hair that hung down her back below the mask into writhing tendrils around her head.

Bass felt goose bumps skitter up and down his arms as the deep, dark eyes of the masks turned to him.

Charlie blew out a breath then unpinned and held up her star so they could see it. ‘We’re Texas rangers representing President Blanchard and the new Republic, and we’ve come to ask for your help.’

The deer masks turned towards her.

The man nodded slowly then turned to Jeremy, the stag mask and antlers making him seem unnaturally tall, impossibly broad. ‘We know of the Texas Rangers, and we’ve heard about the Red right hand and wondered if he was another trick of the false god.’ He pointed at Jeremy’s pendant, ‘but then we saw that.’ He gently touched his own pendant then took a step closer followed closely by the woman. ‘Do you know what it is? What it can do?’

Jeremy nodded, confident. ’Yeah, I do. And the stories you’ve heard about me are probably true, most of ‘em anyway.’ He relaxed in his saddle and leaned forwards. ’So you know about the Nano?’ He shrugged, ‘I mean the false god?’

There were buzzing murmurs from the crowd standing near the rocks. 

The woman nodded. ‘Some of our people were stolen away by ghosts sent by the false god, and we’ve heard stories of the same thing happening in other places.’ Her voice rose, body rigid, ‘all the stolen ones went the same way, heading towards Idaho and though we sent riders to follow them, talk to them, they wouldn’t listen, they wouldn’t come home.’

There were nods of agreement and more murmurs, angry now. 

Charlie raised a hand, ‘folks, we’ve lost people too, friends and family, and we know for certain that this is just the start, that the false god plans to turn everyone left in the world into slaves.’

The murmurs stopped as she got their attention.

Her voice rose. ’But my family and friends are in Bradbury, Idaho, the stronghold of the false god, gathering information and getting ready to fight to save us.’ She held a hand out to Jeremy, ‘As you can see, our friend here has a pendant like yours, and another friend is already on her way to Idaho with hers. She has a plan to defeat the false god, to kill it.’

The man’s fists clenched. ‘Kill it? How?’

The excitement of the crowd was almost visible, hushed whispers floating through the air towards them…

Bass moved his horse up next to Charlie’s. ‘Our friend the Magician says we need at least three pendants for the plan to work.’ He was using his General Monroe voice, loud, clear and full of charm. ‘The Red hand and the Magician are joining us and bringing theirs, and we’re hoping one or both of you’ll think about coming to Idaho with us too so we have enough to try to make the plan work.’

The man and woman stood quietly for a moment, then the woman reached up and took her mask off, slipping it calmly under her arm, glancing at the man.

He took his off too, setting the mask down at his feet, antlers rising almost to his knees. 

Charlie’s eyebrows rose, the guy was younger than she’d expected, in his early twenties maybe? He had a hard edged, strikingly masculine face and green eyes that were almost luminous in the lengthening shadows of the trees and he was all sorts of gorgeous. She felt Bass stiffen next to her but when she checked he was looking at the girl, who she had to admit was worth looking at too.

She was a feminine version of the man, about the same age, with strong, smoothly tanned features and eyes of the same startling green without the lenses of the mask hiding them. She ran the tip of her tongue over full, red lips. ‘My brother and I would like to help.’ She glanced up at the man next to her.

He nodded. ‘But we’re not sure what’ll happen to this place…’

‘If we aren’t here to protect it.’ She finished off his sentence, pointing at two big dingy white cooling towers rising above the hills behind the town.

Jeremy’s gaze followed her hand, his eyes glazing a little as her perfect breasts bounced a little with the movement. ’He’s your brother?’ He cleared his throat and shifted on the saddle, pants suddenly a little too tight. ’So you use your pendants to keep the radiation under control?’

She nodded, her lips curving at the obvious admiration gleaming in his eyes. ’Our father taught us the rituals before he passed over.’

‘Rituals?’ Charlie darted a glance at Jeremy, amused at his interest in the deer girl, her gaze moving to the brother and roving down the long, lean body to the heavy cock hanging like ripe fruit between his legs. Ok, buck boy was pretty impressive down there too.

Buck boy looked back at her, his eyes bold and full of a very confident male pride. ‘Yeah, he saved everyone around here back in the early days of the dark times, and he created rituals to help us remember how to do it.’ He spread his arms, indicating the broad acres of forest, grazing and well tended farmland around the town. ‘He made sure we knew how to keep our lands clean and people, animals and plants healthy for the future, generation after generation.’

There were shouts of agreement and a few cheers from the crowd of watchers, who were gradually getting closer.

Bass growled low in his throat and moved closer to Charlie, his knee nudging hers. His voice was very calm though, very General Monroe again as he faced the siblings. ’is there somewhere we can talk?’ He tipped his head towards the crowd, ‘you said that the false god has already taken some of your friends, do you think It’d be better if we weren’t overheard by too many people just in case it’s working on others?’

Charlie flashed him a quick hot glance, noting the fierce jealousy roiling in his eyes with a shamelessly immature satisfaction. She reached down and put her hand on his knee, squeezing, her eyes holding his so he could see that she didn’t care about anyone but him. Then she put on her work face and turned to the others, ‘my partner Bass is right, we don’t know how it does it or why it chooses particular people so it’s better to be careful.’

Deer girl’s gaze roamed between Bass and Jeremy, speculation and curiosity in every line of her face and lithe body. ‘Well it is time for a break so maybe we can share a meal in the temple and talk at the same time?’ She glanced up at her brother. 

He met her gaze, nodded once then bent, picking up his mask, ‘Sounds good to me. I’ll see you there after I get everyone organised.’ He slid the mask under his arm and walked over to the waiting crowd by the stones, his voice carrying back on the breeze. ‘Relax folks, these are new friends.’ He disappeared into the group, laughing and answering questions as they followed him into the trees, a few casting curious glances back at Charlie and the others.

Deer girl turned towards the circle of stones, looking back over her shoulder, her eyes lingering on Jeremy before resting on Charlie and Bass. ’Come on, there’s a clearing down by the river where you can leave your horses, then we can get some food.’ She pointed towards the line of trees behind the tall stones where the others had gone. Just visible behind the tall trunks and thick foliage was a wooden shelter with fire pits set up and glowing, the scent of cooking wafting through the trees to tickle their senses. She headed off with another sultry glance at Jeremy, ‘we’ve got plenty to share, Red hand.’

Jeremy cleared his throat, ’I’m impressed.’

Charlie shrugged as she dismounted, then her stomach rumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. ’Food sounds pretty good to me too.’

Bass chuckled as he did the same, leading his big bay along after her, ‘can’t argue with that.’

Jeremy groaned as he led his own horse, his eyes fixed on Deer girl’s sweetly curved ass cheeks as they bunched and released with every step she took along the grassy path. ’Hey, can someone say something about the weather or list the numerical value of Pi? Anything. I don’t care. Please?’

Bass chuckled, ‘I can’t remember anything about the value of Pi but if you keep your eyes above sea level you shouldn’t have a problem, Jer.’

Jeremy rolled his eyes, ‘easy for you to say,’ he tossed a teasing glance at Charlie then back to Bass, ‘you two don’t take your eyes off each other long enough to see anything else.’

Deer girl turned round, green eyes a laughing challenge, her long dark hair swinging. ‘Sorry if my being skyclad disturbs you, Red hand. It’s for the ritual.’ She grinned, ‘I can put some clothes on when we get to the shelter if it’ll make you more comfortable?’

Jeremy smiled back, flashed a wink at Bass and hurried to catch up with her, his long-legged swagger confident and just a little arrogant, his horse snorting its irritation at being pulled along faster, ‘hey, don’t worry on my account, I’m enjoying the scenery. And my name’s Jeremy. What can I call you?’ 

She shrugged, ‘Jeremy’s nice, but I think I’ll keep calling you Red hand, I like it. I’m Moon and my brother’s Sun, we’re twins.’ She chuckled at the look on Jeremy’s face, ‘our father was kinda romantic about names, said ours were from some old poetry.’

Charlie glanced at Bass, slightly relieved to find him looking at Jeremy with a strange kind of amused and tolerant affection dancing in his eyes and not at the gorgeous naked girl with the stupid poetic name. She moved up closer, spotting the stream up ahead at the same time as her mare. She pulled the horse back into line. ‘So, er… Moon. Have you ever been away from this place?’

The other girl turned, curious. ‘No, not when everything we need is here. Why?’

‘I was just wondering if you’d ever tested what happens to the radiation levels without the pendants.’

Moon shook her head. ’No, father told us we needed to keep doing the rituals, that they were important, that if we didn’t do them the radiation would get out and everything living would die and the air and the ground for miles around here would be sick for hundreds of years.’

Jeremy lifted an eyebrow, ‘so no pressure then…’

Bass looked thoughtful. ‘How often do the rituals need to be done?’

Moon glanced back at him, ‘the major ones are held four times a year, then we have holding spells once a month.’

Charlie was still wrestling with her mare, ‘so what kind’s this one?’

The other woman grinned, ‘you’re lucky, this is one of the major ones.’ She touched her pendant and was suddenly surrounded by a translucent golden fog that rose into the air. It was eerie and beautiful, her body gleamed and shimmered through the gold, eyes glittering golden green. ‘We’ve been walking the roads and fields for five days, spreading the light, and tonight?’ She lifted her mask into the air then dropped it over her head, the big, deer eyes glowing like embers in a fire. ‘Tonight we celebrate.’ Like some glowing pagan goddess she held a hand out to him. ‘If you and your friends join us, Red hand, and if you use your pendant to help make this ritual even more powerful, then maybe we can talk about how we can help you and the others fight the false god.’

Jeremy didn’t move, his eyes intent and fixed on her, ‘I think I can do that.’

Moon’s dark hair floated in long curling tendrils into the air. ‘This is just the start, Red hand. You haven’t seen anything yet, just wait for tonight.’ She pointed with a glowing finger towards a grassy clearing near the river bank, ‘you can tie your horses over there, there’s grazing and water.’ She turned and started towards the shelter and fire pits and the laughing crowd gathered there, the golden fog following and her voice floating back to them like music as she moved away, ‘then come and join us.’

………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hi and thanks again for reading - I’ve got another chapter well on the way and it's turning into quite a party lol so hope to see you there, cheers, Magpie


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:   
> Hi there, and welcome to chapter 8, I hope you enjoy it :) I think there’ll be one more update in this part of the story, just to tidy things up. Then, I’m hoping to take everyone to Bradbury to really finish things off with a bang! lol! Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and for asking for more!! :) cheers, Magpie

As they led the horses down to the water, Bass watched the golden, glowing figure that was Moon float away towards her people, then looked at Charlie. ‘What do you think? Do we stay?’

She shrugged, glancing at Jeremy. ‘I don’t think we’ve got a choice, Bass. We need more pendants, and they’ve got two. We’ve got to show them that we’re willing to help them too, or they won’t even think of helping us.’

Jeremy led his horse back up the bank, the others close behind. ‘But are we doing the right thing by asking them to give one up when we can’t even guarantee they’ll get it back? I know that my pendant can probably do a lot more than I’ve ever used it for, but they’ve managed to keep this place and people for miles around safe for years with theirs.’ He frowned, ‘I don’t think we can ask them to jeopardise everything they’ve worked for here, especially as we aren’t even sure the plan’ll work.’

‘If the Nano wins in Bradbury there won’t be any future for them, or anyone else.’ Bass had just finished hobbling his horse and looked up, eyes narrowed against the sun. 

Charlie finished unsaddling and tying her own horse and stood up. ‘I know, and you’re right, but Jeremy’s right too. We don’t want to put their people and homes at risk if we can find another way.’ She grabbed her backpack. ‘Didn’t Blanchard say there were other pendants?’

Jeremy shook his head, ‘even if there were, finding them would take time we probably haven’t got, so as the guy holding this pendant, I say that we go help these guys with the ritual, then we can maybe talk one of them into coming with us. That’ll give us the three pendants we need and still leave them with one here to keep things under control.’

Bass nodded, glancing round at the other two. ‘Sounds like a plan to me.’ He grinned, an eyebrow quirking. ’Hey, I bet I know which one of ‘em you want to talk into coming along, Jer. And although I really can’t understand why, I think she likes you too.’

Jeremy shrugged broad shoulders, a lop sided grin curving his lips, ‘I’m pretty sure she’s considering the benefits of getting to know the Red hand a little better.’ He wiggled his fingers.

Charlie rolled her eyes. ‘We’ve still go to do this ritual thing before either of them’ll consider anything, remember? Are you two ready?’

………………………………..

The food was good, pit roasted venison, stewed mutton, grilled rabbit and chicken along with a variety of vegetables and breads that Bass hadn’t seen since before the blackout. There was wine and plenty of beer and as he drank, the alcohol bubbled through his veins, warming his belly, heady, strong and delicious. The sun was warm on his skin as he leaned back against a tree, the sky blue and the sounds of people relaxed and laughing, playing music and lying around on the grass eating and drinking made it feel like a festival back in the days before the blackout. He was feeling better than he had in years, his body strong, fit, senses firing and Charlie was close, the musky sweet scent of her making him wish they were back at their tent.

He took a deep breath and told his cock to calm down.

Charlie was sucking on a chicken wing to get the last of the meat, licking her fingers to get the very last morsels and watching Jeremy sweet talking Moon on the pretext of talking about the capabilities of their pendants. The girl had turned off the glowing and was wearing a simple white dress that set off her golden skin and hair. She looked gorgeous. 

Charlie looked down at her own travel worn tank and jeans and shrugged, dropped the bone on the plate at her feet then leaned back against Bass, the hard warmth of his tall, strong body making her shiver, belly tight and pussy liquid with wanting him. She closed her eyes, the afternoon sun dazzling even through her eyelids and squeezed her thighs together trying to get a little relief. Shit. There was no way she could do anything about that right now, but maybe they could find some time for themselves once they’d finished whatever the crazy people wanted them to do? She sighed, then looked back at the other couple, a grin flashing despite her frustration. ‘He’s good, isn’t he.’

Bass chuckled, draining his beer, wedging the empty mug into the crook of a wide branch next to them. ‘Jeremy? yeah, he had quite a reputation back in the day, looks like he hasn’t lost the knack.’

She twisted so she could look him in the eyes, ‘I didn’t just mean that. He cares about what he does and I can see why you like him, respect him. So what happened with you two?’

He blew out a long breath, eyes deep blue, shadowed, pained. ’It’s not pretty, Charlie. I’ve done a lot of things I regret in my life but what I did to him is right up there at the top of the list. After Miles blew up and left Philly I was in a very, very bad place. I was paranoid, didn’t know who to trust, so I didn’t trust anyone.’ He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, lips close to her cheek, ‘including the only friend I had left, I thought he betrayed me and it was only after I had him fucking shot that I found out he didn’t.’ 

‘Do you trust him now?’ She turned serious eyes up to him, ‘now that he’s got the pendant and all that power?’

‘He’s here isn’t he? So yes. I trust him.’ Bass sounded absolutely certain. ‘He could’ve said no and just gone on making piles of diamonds as the Red right hand, but he didn’t, he dropped it all and came to help us. In spite of everything I did to him, he came.’

She nodded, ‘yeah, he did.’ She looked over at Jeremy and Moon. 

They were standing in the shadow and relative privacy of a couple of oak trees a few yards away. Jeremy was standing close, leaning forwards as if to kiss her, one hand on a smooth, bare shoulder while the other gently stroked a strand of long dark hair behind her ear. Moon looked like she was enjoying the attention and was doing some stroking of her own, a slim hand exploring his chest, one of her legs winding around a strong thigh.

Charlie watched for a moment then grinned, her dimple flashing. ‘He moves fast, that’s for sure.’

Bass pulled her in tighter, his hands roaming over her breasts under the tight tank and down the the strip of skin between it and the top of her jeans, his fingers dipping under, lower, his breath hot on the back of her neck and his voice a low growl, ‘so do I.’

She gasped, knees buckling as his fingers found the damp curls between her legs and slid between her pussy lips, finding her clit wet and oh so willing, his thumb playing with that while one big, sword calloused finger slipped just a little way inside her hot tunnel, teasing the sensitive flesh and sending her nerve endings into a tingling spin. Then she gasped again, this time in disappointment as he pulled out, his arms around her the only thing holding her up.

He laughed, lips against her ear, ’gonna have to wait on the edge for a bit, Charlie.’

‘Bastard.’ She summoned up the strength to stomp on his foot, although she kind of liked the anticipation of waiting for later, sometimes it made things even better. 

He kissed her, his lips tasting of beer.

There was a sound like a deep, ringing bell somewhere close by. It went on and on, trembling through the thick afternoon air under the trees then finally fading softly to a deep vibration.

She looked around, couldn’t see anything but strangely didn’t feel any sense of alarm or unease, the sound seemed to be more an invitation than a warning, but almost as a reflex though, her hand was on the knife at her belt. ’What the hell was that, Bass?’ 

His hand was on his sword hilt too, then he nodded towards the people moving past them in two’s and three’s and more through the trees and back towards the stone circle and relaxed, ‘I’m guessing they’re announcing round two.’

Moon came up to them, smiling, lips lush and kiss swollen, skin flushed, hair flying loose and tangled, ’hey, that’s the bell for the next part of the ritual.’ She smelled of fresh grass, sunshine and warm, female musk, her eyes a warm, golden green. ‘Everyone’s meeting back at the stones, come with us?’

Jeremy was right behind her, his shoulder brushing hers, his eyes bright, shirt loose at his throat, sleeves rolled up over sinewy forearms. ‘You always did find the best parties, Bass.’

Moon slung an arm around his neck, laughing up at him then turning back to Bass and Charlie. ‘I am so glad you guys turned up when you did, this is going to be perfect.’ Her hand brushed the pendant hanging against Jeremy’s throat and lingered, ‘and I can’t wait to see what happens when we have all three pendants working together.’ 

Bass glanced at Jeremy, ‘yeah, except we don’t know for sure that they will.’ His arm tightened around Charlie, ‘although the magician seems to think so.’

She nodded, ‘maybe this could be a kind of trial run for later?’ 

Moon grinned, ‘hey, don’t worry, I know it’ll be ok. Dad started off with one at first, then he got another from an old friend from before the blackout.’ She shrugged a slim shoulder, ’she came to ask him about something and ended up staying. She helped him work out the rituals so we could keep going once they weren’t there.’ A look of sadness darkened the green eyes for a moment, ‘she died not long after he did.’ Then the sadness cleared as enthusiasm took its place, ‘but they found out that the two pendants worked together, no problem, they even amplified the other’s power, so I’m sure yours will work in fine, it’ll just make all of them stronger.’ She glanced up at Jeremy. 

He was staring down at her, as though he couldn’t see anything else.

Charlie’s hand clenched at Bass’ hip, a shiver of unease trickling down her spine. Maybe Moon and the others were just trying to get more pendants? Hell, Jeremy was looking as though he’d just give his to her if she asked. But the other woman seemed to be telling the truth, seemed to be genuinely excited about what could happen. 

Charlie willed the tension away, although she had to say something. ‘We still need to be careful, we can’t afford to lose any of them.’  
……………………………………….

When they got to the stones the shadows were getting longer and everything was bathed in the rose-pink glow of late afternoon. People were gathering in a loose circle on the grass around a huge cauldron set up over a fire pit in a sandy space at the centre of the stones, their costumes, masks and bare skin lit by the flames and the setting sun, their voices rising into the air, excited, full of anticipation. More of them were naked now or wearing only feathers, jewellery, masks and bits of leather and off to one side there were big piles of discarded clothing, banners, flags and neatly stacked instruments.

Moon’s brother, Sun was waiting for them, the stag horns on his mask making him look impossibly tall, otherworldly.

Moon was walking fast towards him, hauling her dress up over her head and off while she walked, Jeremy striding along beside her.

Charlie felt Bass tense up and turned to look at him.

He stopped walking, taking her hand, his eyes intense in the shadows under the trees. ’Are you ok with all this, Charlie?’ He tipped his head to the waiting crowd, ‘looks like it could get a bit wild maybe.’

She looked back at the crowd round the fire. There were no kids. Moon had said they were back in town, so the ritual was definitely an adult thing. She hadn’t seen any weapons apart from a few knives either and even those had looked more decorative than useful in a fight. In fact everyone seemed relaxed and totally at ease with each other. The biggest risk was maybe getting groped and she was more than able to handle that herself, not forgetting that she had Bass with her, and she was absolutely certain that between them they could deal with any number of drunken naked people, if they had to.  
Her belly tightened and a rush of excitement sent moisture and heat pooling between her thighs at the thought of the what it could be like to be with Bass, dancing around the fire and the stones with Moon and her friends, then finding a place to make love under the trees and the stars. She hadn’t danced or been to a party in so long and she was more than ready to play after Bass’ little game earlier. 

‘Charlie?’

She sucked in a breath and ran a hand up the broad chest, over the muscles that were even harder and more powerful than they’d been before thanks to Jeremy’s pendant doing its work on him. Her lips curved, dimple flashing as she pressed closer, her voice a teasing whisper, ‘Yeah, I’m ok, as long as you and me end up somewhere naked and together at the end of it,’ she reached up and licked his earlobe, ‘I don’t want to have to wait on the edge for too long.’

He growled and leaned down to kiss her, his lips hard and possessive, his arms like iron bars around her, ‘ok, but just so you know, if any of those naked guys or girls so much as looks at you the wrong way, they could find out how good I am at killing.’

She laughed against his lips, only half joking, ’we’re supposed to be all cooperative remember?’ She tensed her fingers, nails digging just a little into his flesh, ‘but if any of them start coming on to you, they could find out how good I am with a knife.’ She leaned into the kiss, her hands snaking up behind his neck.

He chuckled low in his throat and pulled her harder against him, deepening the kiss, lips demanding, hands roving over her back, down to her ass, lifting her higher so she was against the hard ridge of his cock.

There was a cough behind them, and Jeremy’s voice, amused but impatient broke them apart, ‘Hey, can’t you two go for five minutes without eating face? The party’s just about to start.’

Bass groaned and pulled away, ‘you always did have the worst timing, Jer.’ He took a long breath and turned to his old friend, hands lingering on Charlie’s shoulders, not bothering to hide his irritation or his concern. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’

Jeremy shrugged. ‘Not really, but we need to know if my pendant can play with others, and this is as good a place as any.’ He grinned, ‘besides, I think I’m in love.’

Charlie shook her head, amused, ’you’ve only just met her, maybe she just wants your pendant.’

He put on a pained expression although his eyes were twinkling, ‘and here I was thinking she liked my ass and my smile.’ He turned back. ‘Come on, they’re waiting on us.’

As they followed him, Charlie realised that somehow, without her really noticing, Jeremy had become part of the team and she was beginning to understand why Bass thought so much of him. She liked him too.

He led them through the crowd, ignoring the stares and curious looks, the hands reaching out to touch, aiming straight for where Moon and Sun waited, masked and naked again, their pendants shining around their necks.

Behind them, some of their people were pulling on ropes, lifting some kind of a woven, wood and vine structure into an upright position. Charlie stared, ‘what’s that?’

Bass frowned, ‘don’t know, maybe it’s a wicker man?’

Jeremy hesitated, ‘I don’t think it’s a man. Looks more like some kind of cartoon drawing.’ He peered closer, ‘I think it’s a giant mushroom, and there’s the nuclear symbol at the bottom.’ He glanced at Charlie then back to Bass, ‘which makes perfect sense seeing where we are.’

A dark skinned woman dressed in a costume of leaves, vines and paint beckoned them forwards to positions around the cauldron and the fire pit. She gently pushed Jeremy closer to Moon, then moved back, her smiling face lit by the fire. She looked like some forest creature in the dusk light, the shadows dancing around her like they were alive too.

Charlie looked in the cauldron, it was full to the brim with what looked and smelled like beer, but stronger, thicker. She leaned forwards, the scent of hops and herbs was so strong her eyes watered.

Moon lifted her hands and there was silence. ‘Brothers and sisters.’ Her voice seemed to echo off the trees. ‘we are here to reaffirm our promise to our father and mother, our promise that we would take care of this place, that we would keep it safe, safe from sickness and evil.’ She spread her arms wide, turning towards the scaffold, ‘safe from that…’

Sun mirrored her - his fists clenched.

Behind them, the wooden scaffold burst into flame and a huge mushroom cloud made of fire loomed, crackling and bright, the heat from it flaring out at everyone in the gathering.

Charlie gasped, feeling Bass go rigid behind her too. A vivid, horrible flashback to the Tower burst through her mind. The madness of the control room, Randall Flynn pushing the red button, her Mom and Aaron frantically trying to stop whatever it was he’d done, Miles counting down and finally that awful moment as they watched the tv screens and the bombs exploded. The pictures had looked like this…

Bass bent to her ear, his voice harsh, full of sorrow and anger. ’That happened to Philadelphia, Charlie. My city, and to Atlanta.’

A kind of moaning chant of fear, anger and defiance rose from the people around the fire.

Sun lifted his pendant, ‘our father gave us the tools to keep us safe.’

Moon lifted hers too, ‘to keep us safe and turn death to life.’

There were cheers and shouts of agreement, people clapping and hugging each other…

Moon pointed at Bass, Charlie, then Jeremy, ‘and now friends have come with another of my father’s tools to join our ritual and add their strength to our ritual so that we are stronger for the battles to come.’ She held a hand out to Jeremy, ‘this is the Red Right hand, many of you have heard of him. Let’s make him and his friends feel welcome.’ 

There were more wild cheers and loud applause…

Jeremy lifted his pendant up so that people could see it, the silver shining bright against his red glove, the flames sending red reflections dancing on the metal. ‘My friends, we all need to be strong and healthy so we can live free.’ He swung round, making sure everyone could see it. ‘I was called to be a healer and with this I have helped many, many people who were injured and make sick by the evil represented here.’ He pointed at the burning scaffold. ‘Injured by the bombs and the radiation.’

There were more cheers, and people got closer, their faces avid, intent, bodies shining as the wooden mushroom cloud blazed higher, throwing out thousands of sparks to be caught by the wind of the fire, rising in bright whirls into the sky.

Bass nudged Charlie, bending to whisper in her ear, ‘he’s doing really well.’

She nodded, her shoulders lifting in a careful shrug, ‘although we haven’t told them we want to take one of their magic pendant holders away with us yet.’

He chuckled, ‘that can wait.’ He stiffened, ‘hey, looks like they’re starting.’

Charlie took a breath and held it, despite Moon’s assurances, neither she nor anyone else knew what was going to happen when the three pendants were all activated at the same time. 

As the fire behind them died down, Moon reached forwards, holding her pendant over the liquid in the cauldron. She pressed something on it and a symbol appeared, lit and glowing white. A circle broken by a line. At the same time there was a sound, like a small bell that somehow kept ringing. A golden mist grew around her, focused and thicker towards the hand holding the pendant.

Sun held his out and a matching symbol appeared, and another bell ringing, the two tones in eerie harmony, a blue green mist appearing around him, the colour more intense around his pendant, the coloured mists swirling out over the surface of the cauldron.

There was silence, except for the bells. The deer masks turned to Jeremy, the big dark eyes somehow expectant, waiting.

Charlie glanced back at their audience. Every eye was on them, on Jeremy, tense anticipation making the air thick and full, like the air before a storm.

He hesitated for a moment, his eyes finding Bass then Charlie. Uncertainty flickered briefly in the blue depths then cleared to determination and resolve. He nodded, a small movement but there was a ripple of excitement that spread out over everyone there, the intake of many breaths a cascading counterpoint to the still ringing bells.

Reaching down, he held his pendant just above the cauldron, near the others, almost touching them. Then he turned it on, the same glowing symbol bursting to life on the silver surface and as it appeared, there was a sound like a single, vast heartbeat.

The ringing stopped and for a moment there was silence. Absolute, complete silence. As though someone or something had just pressed pause.

Charlie started as Bass tapped her arm and pointed at the town buildings off in the distance.

She looked. Small lights were flickering on along the street, high up on tall poles and on the outskirts of town a sign lit up in red, white and blue declaring that the Ten dollar motel had a vacancy… 

Then the ringing started again, the sounds bigger, more complex. Three separate notes this time twining in a chord that kept changing but somehow stayed the same, and between the pendants and the liquid in the cauldron small lightning bolts started flickering, faster and faster, crackling and snapping, the smell of ozone rising into the air, tickling her nose.

Charlie felt herself floating up off the ground, the hairs on her arms and neck prickling and standing on end, gold, blue green and new bronze glow swirling like huge, soft tentacles around her, the coloured mists rising, obscuring everything and everyone and suddenly she couldn’t see, couldn’t feel the ground. Panic surged through her body, taking her breath away, but somehow, gasping, she found enough air to try, her voice sounding harsh against the music of the bells. ’Bass?’

A hand found hers, the grip strong, calloused, unmistakable.

Everything went bright, brighter than she could stand, her eyes dazzled, his hand the only thing holding her together. Then the lights went out…

………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I was hoping to finish with this one, but not quite. I have to admit, this chapter was tricky, I'd love to know what you think if you have a moment, I was about ready to make it interactive lol, eg do I go full pagan festival? or something a bit quieter… Anyway, thanks so much for coming back, next one up very soon, cheers, Magpie


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note:   
> Hi there, and welcome to chapter 9, the last in this cycle. This one’s for Jodi618 who’s gentle comment asking me to finish the story reminded me that I’d actually left Charlie and Bass literally hanging in mid-air… Anyway, I hope you enjoy :) cheers, Magpie

15…14… Charlie found herself counting down like Miles did in the Tower and she was doing it to keep from screaming because everything was dark and completely fucking silent. Her words vanished into some kind of limbo and she couldn’t hear anything except for some kind of swooping, rushing sound that made it feel like she was in the ocean. 10, 9, 8… She was suspended, floating? No up. No down, no sideways. 7…6…The only thing she could feel was Bass. His hand in hers, his thumb stroking, tapping against her palm. 

Then she realized it was more than tapping. It was a pattern, repeated over and over in the code he and Miles had taught her months ago. Morse code.

‘R u Ok?’

Shit. Heart pounding and light headed with relief she gave the signal for ‘yes’, then added a ‘WTF?’

He tapped back. ‘Wait. B Ok.’

It was funny how much of him came through such a small touch, she could almost hear him saying it, telling her to be smart like he had on the roof way back the first time in Willoughby. Suddenly feeling a whole lot better, she tapped ‘Ok’ on his palm and almost in the same moment the darkness started to lift and she could feel the ground under her feet.

His hand slid out from hers, his arms sliding around her from behind, strong, hard and very welcome as he pulled her tight against his chest, both their hearts pounding. Then his hands tightened on her waist as he spun her round to face him, hands brushing her sides, her hips then sliding up to cup her face. ‘Charlie. Are you ok? 

She’d never seen him look like that before. She’d never seen him afraid. Bass Monroe was angry, passionate, determined or indifferent, but never, never afraid. Then she realized he was afraid for her. She nodded, but something inside her was singing. ‘Yeah, yeah I’m fine.’ 

He took a long breath then let it out. ‘Good. That’s good.’

She glanced up at him, her voice sounded hoarse, cracked, as if she’d been screaming. ‘What’s happening?’

He was looking up at something in the sky. ‘Look up.’

Tension flowing through her again, she followed his gaze and gasped.

Rising high above them, far, far into the sky was a huge, blue, gold and bronze coloured mushroom cloud expanding, spreading higher and further into the blue distance and pouring out over the land as she watched. ‘Shit…’ she turned to him, vaguely aware of the thick, roiling, swirling mists that were still all around them like a white ocean. ‘Three pendants did that?’ 

He met her gaze, his eyes wide, drowned blue, ‘I guess so.’ He was still tense though, on alert. One hand dropped, hovering over his sword hilts and his eyes moved from her, searching the mists around them. ‘We need to find Jeremy.’

She looked where she thought the other man had been and behind the rapidly evaporating mist there was a flicker of a darker shape lying on the grass. She pointed, ‘over there?’ 

He looked then nodded and grabbed her hand, shooting her a warning glance. ‘Stay close, Charlie.’

She nodded back, then slid her fingers through his and held on tight. There was no way she was letting go of him now.  
…………………………..

Jeremy Baker had felt the nanotech before, had felt something like the surge of light and energy that was coursing through his body like a stream of orgasmic lava, but this time was way, way beyond that. Every cell in his body felt like it was being massaged into perfection, cosseted and remade until it was better than before, fitter, stronger, healthier. It was fantastic, incredible, better than… well maybe not better than that. He managed something like a grin and stretched out, the grass underneath him feeling like the softest of feather beds.

‘Jeremy?’ 

He heard the voice like a vague whisper in his head, the name familiar but not important, not when he was feeling this fucking good...

‘Baker. Report.’ The voice was more louder this time, more demanding.

Shit. He opened his eyes. 

Bass Monroe was crouched, staring down at him, the look on his face a mixture of worry and impatience. ‘Rise and shine.’ 

‘What?’ Jeremy blinked and sat up, ‘hey, what’s the hurry?’ Then he frowned, ‘and what do you mean, report?’ The frown turned into a glare. ’I don’t report to you anymore, buddy, remember?’ 

Bass quirked an eyebrow, stood up and held out a hand to help him up. ‘So how about you just tell us what happened?’ 

Jeremy took the hand and hauled himself to his feet, still a little fuzzy and looked around for Moon, her brother and the rest of the party but apart from a few wisps of mist, Bass, Charlie and himself, the clearing was empty. Even the cauldron had gone along with the beer inside it. 

Charlie was standing next to Bass and she didn’t look happy. ‘What did you do?’

…………………………….

‘This is crazy, how could a whole crowd of people just disappear?’ Charlie looked around the clearing. The fog had lifted, the mushroom cloud gone too leaving the air sparkling clean and scented with woodland smells. Birds flew high overhead and a group of deer wandered out from the trees, vanishing back undercover at the sight of humans. But apart from the three of them there were no other people, in fact there was no sign that anyone apart from them had been there at all. The grass was smooth, undisturbed, the stones serene in the afternoon sun. It didn’t look like anyone besides them had been there for a long, long time.

‘All the other shit’s gone too, the food, the wicker thing, that big fire pit… Everything.’ Bass was pacing up and down, all wired agitation.

Jeremy was sitting on a fallen log, one hand rubbing his head, the other wrapped around the pendant around his neck. He held it up, ‘at least I’ve still got this.’ He shrugged, ‘and there’s still no sign of radiation so maybe whatever it was we did worked and they just left?'

‘Yeah, maybe.’ Bass stopped pacing. Then he looked up, checking the sun. ‘That’s weird.’

‘What?’ 

‘The sun. It’s lower than it should be.’ 

Jeremy looked too, frowning. ‘Yeah, you’re right. About an hour lower.’

‘It doesn’t feel like we were out that long.’ Charlie glanced over at the line of trees bordering the clearing as a flash of light caught her eye. ‘Hey, what’s that?’ She started walking.

‘Charlie, wait for me.’ Bass followed, on high alert, his eyes tracking from side to side, ‘this whole thing is weird. It could be anything.’ 

‘He’s right.’ Jeremy was close behind them, covering their backs, a gun in each hand. ‘Be careful.’

She was almost at the tree line when she stopped so suddenly that Bass ploughed into her back, almost knocking her over.

He caught her, keeping her upright. ‘Whoa.’

She held on to his arm with one hand, reaching out with the other. ‘Bass, look.’

Jeremy came up behind them. ‘I’ll be damned.’

Hanging from one of the branches of a tall cypress, suspended on its leather thong was a silver oval, revolving slowly, shining in the sun.  
……………………………

The horses were just where they’d left them, hobbled by the river, the animals grazing calmly, as though nothing had happened. Their gear was piled under the tree where they’d put it. 

And even though they’d walked through the exact place where they’d feasted with the others, there was no trace of anyone or anything else, no firepits, no rubbish, no crushed grass… If it wasn’t for the fact that they all remembered the same things and that they had an extra pendant, it could all have been a dream.

Charlie checked her saddle girth was tight and mounted up, reaching down into her saddle bag for a strip of jerky. Tearing off a bite with strong, white teeth and starting to chew, she glanced over at Bass, just mounting up himself. ‘I remember eating so much food that I didn’t think I’d be hungry for days, but I’m starving.’

‘Me too,’ He had a strip of his own in his hand, ‘this is pretty basic in comparison but at least it’s real.’

Jeremy nodded, riding up, ‘at least you two thought you ate something,’ he wore a pained look, ‘I was kind of busy chatting up disappearing phantom deer girl.’ He sighed, ‘didn’t even get to the best part of that either.’

Bass turned his horse towards the clearing and the road. ‘Never saw you as a new age type anyway, Jer.’ He grinned, ‘what if she wanted you to give up your glove and walk around naked in a deer mask?’

The other man shrugged, lips twitching, ’I’d be happy to do the naked, not sure about the mask,’ he glanced at Charlie, ‘it was nice of her and her brother to leave you that though.’

Charlie put a hand up to the pendant hanging between her breasts. ‘Yeah, you’ll have to show us how to use it.’

‘Not me,’ Bass shook his head, the grin gone. ‘It’s better if I don’t know.’ He urged his horse on towards the road.

Jeremy glanced at Charlie, a question in his eyes.

She shrugged and kicked her own horse into a trot after Bass. ‘I don’t think he likes reminders.’

The road was empty, no sign of anyone in either direction, but in the distance down in the valley where the town nestled soft lights started to appear. They were the golden, softer lights of lamps burning from windows and fires for cooking and as the sun got lower, they flickered, their warmth inviting.

Bass pulled back next to Charlie, ‘maybe they know something about all this. You want to check it out?’ He looked pointedly at the small piece of jerky still in her hand, ‘they might have something better to eat than that too.’

‘Sounds good to me.’ She put the last bit in her mouth, then turned to Jeremy, ‘maybe you should put the glove away, just in case?’

He nodded, ‘yeah, in some places they thought I was the devil.’ His lips quirked in a lop-sided grin, ‘the name Red Hand didn’t help either.’ 

Bass headed off, ‘let’s go then, we’re running out of daylight.’  
…………………………

The town reminded Charlie of Sylvania Estates, along the main street the houses were neat, clean and looked well maintained. Parks had been turned into gardens – pumpkins running riot and trellises with beans and peas in lush piles. Corn and sunflowers lined every wall. A few abandoned cars had been turned into planters and the fragrance of herbs and flowers followed them along the road. 

There was a church on a rise in the center of town, the cross at the top of the neat bell tower shining bright in the late afternoon sun. It was set in gently sloping green lawns and flower beds surrounded by a freshly painted white picket fence, the doors were open and a family, mom, dad, four well behaved kids of diminishing height were standing there, the parents talking to a tall man in a black suit. 

It looked like a prosperous, happy town.

The people out walking around the colorful market stalls and well stocked shops were well dressed, looking as neat as the town itself and all nodded politely as they rode by. Charlie nodded back, resisting the urge to smooth her hair, watching as both Bass and Jeremy turned on the charm, the two of them looking relaxed and totally at ease, smiling at everyone and pretending to be harmless, hands well away from swords and guns.  
She smiled, it didn’t work. They still looked totally badass, but it didn’t seem to worry anyone.

The town had a hotel, a faux folk revival all gingerbread and white trim, brightly lit lamps making it look like a picture postcard with a couple of wagons tied out the front, horses dipping into nosebags and munching happily. Inside, someone was playing a piano, a gentle, classical piece. The notes were clear, lilting, beautiful, floating out through the open windows and joining the breeze and the scent of roasting meats.

Charlie thought the music was ok, but she was more interested in the food. ‘This looks good.’

‘It’s perfect. Picture postcard middle America.’ Jeremy sounded puzzled, ‘doesn’t seem right though.’

Bass shook his head, ‘No, it doesn’t. I can’t see Moon or any of her people fitting in here.’

‘Neither can I.’ Charlie kept her voice down, smiled politely and nodded back at a passing couple. Middle aged, neat, clean and healthy, the two looked like the photo of her grandparents she remembered being on the wall when she was little. Before the blackout. ‘Everything is so…’

‘Perfect?’

She nodded as they dismounted and tied their horses up to the rail near the water trough.  
…………………………

Inside, the hotel was as clean and perfect as everything else, there was cider, crisp and sweet, rabbit stew and pumpkin pie.

‘That is seriously good pie,’ Bass sat back, loosening his belt.

‘That was your third slice, you’ll get fat.’ Charlie was still on her first after two bowls of stew.

He chuckled, eyes trailing a hot line from her lips to her cleavage, ‘I know just how to work it off.’

She licked her lips, teasing, ‘gonna hold you to that.’

Their waitress set down another tray of drinks, her dark eyes smiling in a pretty but lived in face, her gaze moving from Jeremy to Bass and back again, admiration and interest gleaming.

Jeremy smiled up at her, tipping three small diamonds into her hand. ‘Thanks again, and one of those is for you.’

Her smile got wider, ‘why, thank you.’

He pressed another one into her hand, folding her fingers over it, ‘we’re looking for some friends of the family,’ he shrugged, ‘a brother and sister, both a little bit strange, you know? Hippy types, tree huggers.’ he smiled and rolled a finger near his temple, ‘but nice anyway. Their father used to work over at the power station before the blackout?’

She looked confused for a moment, then took a deep breath and gave the last diamond back, pressing it into his hand. ‘I don’t need this. I think I know who you mean and I’m so, so sorry, they were a lovely family, even though they were a bit different.’ She smiled a little, ‘I mean, calling your kids Sun and Moon? Really, who’d do that?’ She leaned closer, glancing at Bass then Charlie and back to Jeremy, her eyes full of sympathy. ‘Their dad was a hero. He’d made the plant safe for us, you know? He made sure there was no radiation. But then there was an accident, a fire, not long after the blackout, most of our people were out in the fields, couldn’t get there in time to help. He was trapped in the plant with his friends and the kids went in on their own to try to rescue them?’ Her voice dropped to a whisper, ‘they were all killed.’

…………………………

It was a mutual decision not to stay in town after that. They had the third pendant now and needed to get word to Blanchard, Miles and the Magician as soon as possible. Sanchez and the others were camped only a couple of hour’s ride away and that meant riders could start out tonight. Then they could all finally head to Bradbury for the showdown with the Nano.

Bass glanced at Jeremy as they rode out, a full moon sending their shadows back along the pale road in long black lines. ‘You ok?’

Jeremy shook his head. ‘Not really.’ 

Charlie put a hand up to her neck, checking the pendant was still there for about the hundredth time. ‘We didn’t just imagine all of that, so what were they? Ghosts? Nano illusions?’ 

Bass rode up alongside, ‘don’t know, don’t care, all I care about is that something’s finally going our way.’ 

‘We’ve still got to rescue my mom, Miles and the others, and deal with the Nano.’ 

He chuckled, ‘you’re worried about a little thing like that after all the weird things that’ve happened to us lately?’

She shrugged, ‘maybe…’

‘And are you including me in that statement?’ Jeremy rode up on his other side, ‘because there’s no comparison. Nothing could be possibly be weirder than what just happened.’

Bass blew a breath out through his teeth and kicked his horse into a canter. ‘I really wish you hadn’t said that.’   
……………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Well, there it is, I hope you liked it  This story started out as a Halloween tale set and I kind of wanted to keep the same sort of feel about it. I always intended to write the story of what happened in Bradbury when they finally got there with the three pendants too – and I love writing Miles finding out about Bass and Charlie, lol! And having Jeremy along too… So, maybe I’ll do that sometime soon, just for fun.  
> Anyway, thanks so much for reading – and thanks again to Jodi618. I really enjoyed writing this and am so glad that you asked me to finish the story.   
> Cheers, Magpie xx


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